Gardner-Webb Battles to 1-1 Tie at Liberty on Thursday Night
October 05, 2012 | Women's Soccer
Lynchburg, Va. - Freshman Nichole Poppe netted a key second-half goal, and sophomore keeper Amy Schmitt collected a career high twelve saves to lead the Runnin' Bulldogs to a 1-1 tie against Big South foe Liberty on the road Thursday night.
Gardner-Webb (2-9-1, 1-3-1) got on the board first when forward Nichole Poppe (Youngsville, N.C.) took an assist from Samantha Gutierrez (Austin, Texas) to beat Liberty keeper Karen Blocker in the 67th minute. The cross from Gutierrez earned the freshman her team-leading second assist of the season, and Poppe's finish into the back of the net marked her second goal this season.
The Runnin' Bulldog defense was stellar against an aggressive attack from Liberty (8-5-1, 2-2-1), keeping the Flames off the board as the second half progressed. Schmitt (Waxhaw, N.C.) led the Gardner-Webb defensive effort, as the sophomore tallied twelve saves for the match in keeping Liberty from capitalizing on numerous goal-scoring opportunities.
The Flames pressured the Runnin' Bulldogs early and often, testing a young GWU defensive lineup with threatening goal-scoring chances in the opening minutes of the first half. A Casey Norris header in the 3rd minute hit the crossbar, and shot on goal looks from the Flames' Rebecca Smith and Crystal Elmers in the 9th and 11th minutes respectively were saved by Schmitt.
Liberty possessed the ball frequently in the opening portion of the first half, preventing GWU's offensive attack from taking off in the early going.
GWU's defense did not back down despite the early pressure. A collapsing Runnin' Bulldog defense blocked Helena Pereira's shot attempt in the 25th minute, and Schmitt saved a shot off the foot of Jaime Bouffard in the 30th minute to keep Liberty at bay.
Two more Schmitt saves, one in the 31st minute to deny Brittany Aanderud and another to deflect Smith in the 32nd minute, kept the Flames off the board.
Gardner-Webb's offense began to find its footing late in the first half. After a Smith shot attempt was blocked by GWU, sophomore Megan Curan (Mooresville, N.C.) found open space within a Liberty defense surrendering less than one goal per match on the season. Curan forced Blocker to notch the first of her four saves on the night with a shot on goal in the 40th minute of play.
Coming out of the break, several Runnin' Bulldog freshmen got GWU's offensive attack on track. Seeing her first action on the season, freshman Kadesha Otzko (Cape Coral, Fla.) produced quality runs alongside fellow Runnin' Bulldog rookie Ashley Carmean (Ashburn, Va.) to test a strong Flames defense.
Gutierrez, another freshman, delivered a shot on goal in the 51st minute, but another save from Blocker kept the Runnin' Bulldogs off the board and the score knotted at 0-0.
After a series of Liberty shots (including one on goal by Megan Warner that was saved by Schmitt in the 66th minute) appeared to shift momentum back in favor of the home team, Gardner-Webb struck with the go-ahead goal on the connection between Gutierrez and Poppe.
Gutierrez made a nice run toward the Liberty box, and delivered a pass from the right side of the 18 yard box to the center. Poppe was waiting, and delivered a strike that beat Blocker and found the back of the net to give the Runnin' Bulldogs a 1-0 second half lead.
With momentum in hand, Gardner-Webb pressed its advantage on the offensive end, and nearly secured its second goal of the night with opportunities in the 70th and 74th minutes, but shots on goal from Curan and freshman Tara Woelfel (Thurmont, Md.) were saved by Blocker to prevent the Runnin' Bulldogs from pulling away.
Liberty pressed on the offensive end again, earning back-to-back header attempts in the 76th minute from Lauren Stell (hit the crossbar) and Norris (blocked) to pressure GWU.
Gardner-Webb's defense continued to hold in spite of a high number of shots on goal from the home team. Sophomore Addison Abee (Charlotte, N.C.) helped the Runnin' Bulldogs backline close out on the many threatening Liberty runs all night.
Freshman Whitley Bowman (Damascus, Md.) and junior Ele Margelos (North Potomac, Md.) were solid in their starting roles on a Runnin' Bulldogs' backline that did not allow a Liberty goal as the 80 minute mark passed by.
The eighth save of the night from Schmitt came in the 85th minute as Gardner-Webb looked poised to pull off the road win as the second half wore down.
After GWU earned a corner in the 86th minute, a Liberty counter in the 87th brought the ball inside the Runnin' Bulldog box. Flames' leading scorer Jaime Bouffard played a header from Smith midair, putting a shot into the back of the net to tie the match at 1-1.
Gardner-Webb settled to keep the Flames off the scoreboard to force overtime after Schmitt's ninth save of the night denied Maddie Boone's go-ahead bid in the 89th minute.
The Gardner-Webb defense got a boost from senior Taylor Napoli (Wyomissing, Pa.), who was solid in her second appearance of the season. A poised GWU backline prevented the Flames from threatening throughout the first ten minute overtime period, and a Schmitt save off a last second shot attempt from Boone sent the match into a second overtime.
The Runnin' Bulldogs continued to play the Flames tough in the second ten minutes of overtime, limiting the Flames' aggressive approach to two shots in the period. Schmitt was up for the challenge, saving both attempts to keep the match at 1-1.
After Otzko, Arielle McCarthy Crum-Ewing, Sarah Morabito, and Karyn Latorre re-entered the game in the 107th minute, Gardner-Webb earned what proved to be the final scoring chance of the match with a corner kick in the 110th minute. Woelfel's attempt couldn't get through, and the final horn sounded to seal a 1-1 tie between the Flames and Runnin' Bulldogs.
GWU earned the draw despite an eye-popping shot disparity for the second consecutive match. The host Flames outshot the Runnin' Bulldogs 34-6 for the match, coming off a 33-8 disparity formed against GWU during the double overtime match at High Point last Saturday.
Thursday's thriller marked the first draw of the season for both the Flames and the Runnin' Bulldogs.
Offensively, Gardner-Webb was led by Poppe (one goal), Gutierrez (one sog, one assist), and Curan (three shots, two on goal) Thursday night.
The backbone of GWU's defensive effort against the Flames was formed from the play of Schmitt (2-9-1), who surrendered 1 goal while collecting 12 saves in 110 minutes of action.
Gardner-Webb turns around to face Longwood on the road Saturday, October 6 at 4:00 p.m.
| Box Score: GWU 1 - Liberty 1 |
