Oct. 15, 2006

Final Stats

Chattanooga, Tenn. - Freshman Nikki Lombardo's golden goal inside the 103rd minute lifted the Western Carolina Catamounts to a 1-0 win over the Chattanooga Lady Mocs Sunday afternoon at the North River Soccer Complex. The win, Western's fourth-straight, ran the Catamounts' unbeaten streak to five and moved WCU into a tie for second in the SoCon with Furman.

After battling through two halves and one, 10-minute overtime session scoreless, Lombardo received a pass from senior Meghan Reilly following a Lady Moc turnover in the offensive third and launched a shot from 20 yards out that found the upper left corner of the goal for the game-winner.

Western Carolina (9-5-2, 5-1-1 SoCon) peppered the Chattanooga net to the tune of 31 shots to 12 by the Lady Mocs on the afternoon, firing 14 shots in both the first and second half. The Catamounts also held a 6-to-1 edge in corner kick opportunities with all of WCU's chances coming in regulation and UTC's lone corner occurring in the first overtime period.

Chattanooga keeper Stacey Matthiessen snagged 13 saves to keep the Catamounts at bay, while WCU freshman net minder, Kelly Gulledge, made five stops to keep UTC off the board. Gulledge improved to 5-0-0 on the season with her third-career shutout victory.

Through the first 45 minutes, the tide swayed back and forth, with Western holding possession in the offensive zone but Chattanooga making a few rushes into their offensive third to register four shots. The scoreless deadlock would persist through intermission.

Out of the break, Chattanooga had an early opportunity as forward Chelsea Hurst broke to the goal and out dueled her defenders and got off a shot toward a near empty goal, but the shot went wide. After that, however, Western turned up its intensity, playing the majority of the second stanza in its offensive zone. Despite numerous shots on the Moc cage, Western could not push a goal across in regulation nor in the first OT setting up Lombardo's heroics.

Western has most of this week off before returning to the pitch at the Catamount Athletic Complex this Friday against the Georgia Southern Eagles (6-8-0, 4-3-1 SoCon) for a special Noon kickoff. Friday's match is Education Day with area school children invited to spend the day on-campus in Cullowhee. Everyone is also invited to spend their lunch break with the Catamounts for the key SoCon match-up.