Oct. 11, 2007

Final Stats

Mount Pleasant, S.C. - The Western Carolina women's soccer team, in a match that was back and forth throughout, allowed two second half goals in falling to the College of Charleston, 2-0, Thursday evening at Patriot's Point Field in Mount Pleasant, S.C.

The first half was a battle between two disruptive defenses that did not allow either team to have the space or time to develop a strong attack. A combination of tight coverage and an ability to step into the passing lanes and pick off any potential crosses or long runs led to a total of four shots taken by the two teams combined, with Western leading 3-1 in the category. In fact, at one point, both teams had twice the number of fouls as shots taken.

This defensive flow was especially troublesome to the Catamounts, who were forced to go outside their typical gameplan and adjust to try and make something happen.

"We're not a kick and run team, but that's what we had to do tonight," said Coach Tammy DeCesare. "Our strength is not kicking the ball 50 yards and running onto it. We possess, we move forward, we go with numbers. We didn't play to our strengths, we played to our weaknesses."

The second half was the same story, but with different results, at least for the Cougars. Neither team could establish a steady attack on goal, but College of Charleston was able to breakthrough the Catamount lines to score a pair of goals. The Cougars were utilized their outside attack, using wide angles to give themselves quality shots on goal from all angles.

At the 54:25 mark in the match, C of C's Brittany Schneider took a long crossing pass from teammate Megan Manthey and fired a shot on goal that was tipped away by WCU's Caitlin Williams. The rebound found its way to the right side of the box and Cougar Christy Barrow put it away past the diving Williams, for the game's first goal.

With 18 minutes remaining in the match, College of Charleston added an insurance goal when Marrow was able to fight through two Catamount defenders and place her shot into the back of the net from five yards out to make the score 2-0.

Despite falling behind, the Catamounts did not pack it in and give up. They were on the attack throughout the second half, and had a number of close chances just miss. At the 22 minute mark, WCU's Erin Hamilton had her long shot just miss when C of C goalkeeper Sarah Wiggers got just enough of a touch on the ball to put it wide of the net. With ten minutes remaining, senior Lauren Atkinson's shot from the top of the box nicked the left side of the post and went out of bounds.

The two teams ended the match knotted up in number of shots taken, with eight apiece. Western had one corner kick to College of Charleston's two.

The loss drops Western to .500 on the season, at 7-7-0 overall, and they go to 2-3-0 in the Southern Conference. College of Charleston improves their record to 7-5-1 on the season, and keeps them unbeaten in the SoCon with a 4-0-1 mark.

Western Carolina will look to get back on the winning track when they host Chattanooga on Sunday afternoon at the Catamount Athletic Center. It is the second to last home match of the season for the team, and kickoff is set for 2:00 p.m.