ELON, N.C. - The Gardner-Webb women's soccer team went toe to toe on the road at Elon on Sunday night, particularly in the second half, but a goal by the Phoenix with under five minutes to play made the difference in a 1-0 Runnin' Bulldogs defeat
The Runnin' Bulldogs spent large portions of Sunday night's game at Elon forced to defend, but a strong defensive performance nearly allowed GWU to leave with a result. Elon finished the night with a 22-6 advantage in shots, including 11-2 in shots on goal, but Gardner-Webb was able to ride the efforts of senior goalkeeper
Savannah Dixon who made 10 saves.
That strong effort in goal eventually gave the Runnin' Bulldogs multiple chances to steal a win in the final minutes. In the 68th minute, GWU collected its first shot on target through freshman forward
Ila Allred.
Just moments later, perhaps the best chance of the entire match from either side came off the foot of senior forward
Kaitlyn Huff. Huff broke free down the near side, cut to her inside, and managed a shot in the 73rd minute that had the Elon goalkeeper sprawled out for a save in the top corner. Graduate forward
Annie Slovak also found a chance for Gardner-Webb in the 75th minute after placing strong pressure on the goal.
Elon finally broke through in the 86th minute. A corner swung into the box was knocked around for a moment and nearly kept out, but after coming back off the post was toe-poked over the line for the night's only goal. Gardner-Webb managed to get the ball forward in the final seconds, but the Runnin' Bulldogs were unable to put together an immediate response before the clock expired.
LEADERS
Dixon was excellent in goal once again for Gardner-Webb, posting a career best 10 saves on the night. In addition to Dixon, senior defender
Camila Lezcano and sophomore defender
Tanner Michael completed the full 90 minute game, with the trio having played every minute of the GWU season to this point. The Runnin' Bulldogs had 10 players come off the bench on Sunday night, including freshman defender
Sarah Birchall who played 27 minutes and made her Gardner-Webb debut.
UP NEXT
After opening the season with three straight road games, Gardner-Webb is finally back at Greene-Harbison Stadium on Thursday, August 28th, to host Wofford in its 2025 home opener.
