Nov. 3, 2005

Final Stats

Greenville, S.C. - Sophomore Heather Dittmer's goal seven and a half minutes into the first overtime session lifted the Western Carolina Catamounts to a 2-1 win over the fifth-seeded College of Charleston Cougars Thursday afternoon in the opening round of the 2005 Southern Conference Women's Soccer Championship.

After receiving a pass from senior Marie Nicolini, who was pressed into service along Western's front line from her normal defensive position, Dittmer turned and fired a shot on the Cougar net from 23 yards out. The ball careened off a CofC defender and was catapulted on goal. Cougar keeper Erin Smith jumped to make the save, but her attempted deflection ricocheted off her hand, falling in the net for the game-winner.

"We came out flat in the first half. I told the players that I was willing to play with nine people on the field if I had to, just as long as those nine wanted to play," said first-year head coach Tammy DeCesare. "I think it finally hit the seniors at halftime and all six of them turned it up a notch."

Fourth-seeded Western Carolina improved to 16-5-0 overall, tying the school record for wins in a single season. The Catamounts advance to face the top-seeded Davidson Wildcats at 5:00 on Friday evening in the semifinals of the SoCon Championship. Davidson opened tournament play with a 2-0 victory over Elon in the opener of the tournament.

Western fell behind early as the College of Charleston netted its first goal in the last two meetings between the two teams. Junior Teryn Schuetz played a through ball to herself, splitting two Catamount defenders. She played a cross in front of the goal mouth, which was scored by senior Kristin Rhyne to push the Cougars ahead, 1-0.

The Cats had a couple of scoring opportunities during the first half, including shots by sophomore Lauren Atkinson and senior Megan Chambers, with the best chance coming as senior Natasha Moore uncorked a blast from the top of the box which just sailed over the cross bar high. All of Western's four shots, two of which were on goal, were kept out of the net as the Catamounts trailed at the half, 1-0.

Early in the second half, Western turned up the offensive pressure, peppering the Cougar net to outshoot Charleston 8-0 over the first 20 minutes. The increased intensity paid off at the 63:25 as Chambers scored on her fifth shot of the contest, bouncing one past the Cougar keeper from 30 yards out.

Davis nearly put Western ahead with a shot from inside the box with 20 minutes showing on the game clock, but CofC's keeper Erin Smith made a sliding stop and the defense cleared to end the threat. Despite out shooting the College 20-5, including a 13-to-1 advantage in the second stanza alone, the game ended in a one-all tie and an overtime session, setting up Dittmer's heroics. Junior goal keeper Alesha Row recorded the win, only needing to make one save in the contest.

Western will battle Davidson at 5:00 pm on Friday. Fans can follow the game LIVE on GameTracker, presented by Carolina West Sports Medicine, at www.CatamountSports.com.