Maddie Turlington Named Big South Conference Co-Attacking Player of the Week
October 21, 2019 | Women's Soccer
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Maddie Turlington became the second Gardner-Webb women's soccer player to be recognized by the Big South Conference with a weekly honor as she was named the league's Co-Attacking Player of the Week on Monday.
Turlington (Roanoke, Texas / Byron Nelson HS) helped the Runnin' Bulldogs to a perfect 2-0-0 record last week with wins over UNC Asheville and USC Upstate respectively. The 'Dogs shut out their in-state rival, UNC Asheville, on Wednesday night, 2-0, and gutted out a 3-2 road win over the USC Upstate Spartans on a rainy Saturday afternoon.
The sophomore forward played a role in all five of Gardner-Webb's goals in the two contests, scoring two and assisting on three others.
"We picked up two huge wins last week, and Maddie played a big role in both," said head coach Mike Varga. "Not only was she involved in each of our goals but she put in a lot of work defensively as well."
On Wednesday night, she assisted on Stina Kleppe's eventual game-winner in the 21st minute, sending a ball to the Big South's top goal-scorer, who then proceeded to fire a strike into the lower left corner of the net.
With the Runnin' Bulldogs ahead, 1-0, Turlington gave them an insurance goal in the 80th minute. She gained possession of a Kylie Ameres throw in from the left side of the field and turned, firing a shot into the goal from the edge of the box to put Gardner-Webb ahead, 2-0. The 'Dogs would ultimately win the match by the same score to pick up their first of two victories last week.
On a stormy Saturday, the Runnin' Bulldogs travel to nearby Spartanburg, S.C. to face USC Upstate, and Turlington quickly got Gardner-Webb on the scoreboard. In just the fourth minute, she took a shot from the top of the box that got past the Spartans' Logan Pace and gave the 'Dogs a 1-0 lead.
USC Upstate scored the next two goals of the match to take a 2-1 lead, but the Runnin' Bulldogs earned the come-from-behind win with two goals prior to the 60th minute. Turlington was credited with an assist on Ameres' equalizer in the 58th minute and two minutes later, she sent a ball to Jada Newton who scored the game-winner to lift the 'Dogs over the Spartans.
For the week, Turlington tallied seven total points and now has 17 for the season. She shares Attacking Player of the Week honors with Campbell's Katie Lockwood.
Turlington is the team-leader in assists with seven and her five goals place her tied for second on the squad with Newton. Kleppe (25) is the only Runnin' Bulldog with more points that Turlington to date. Among the Big South's leaders, the Ronoake, Texas native ranks fourth in both assists (7) and assists per game (0.438), as well as ninth in points (17) and points per game (1.06).
The 'Dogs will close out the regular season with a pair of matches this week – at Radford and home against Longwood. Gardner-Webb will take on the Highlanders of RU on Wednesday, October 23 at 7 p.m. before hosting the Lancers of Longwood on Saturday, October 26 at 7 p.m. Prior to the match against Longwood, the coaching staff with honor the team's seniors.
