Oct. 14, 2007

Final Stats

Cullowhee, N.C. - The Western Carolina women's soccer team, behind a season-high six goals, defeated the Chattanooga Mocs, 6-1, on a postcard-worthy Sunday afternoon at the Catamount Athletic Complex. Six different players contributed with goals in the match, with assists to five different players. As a team, WCU outshot the Mocs 36-8, only three shots behind their high of 39, set against The Citadel two weeks ago.

The Cats didn't waste any time lighting up the scoreboard in the match, when four minutes in, senior Heather Dittmer gathered a deflected shot attempt, and fired a shot that rolled past the goalkeeper and into the lower left hand corner of the net. It was Dittmer's second goal of the year, and it moved her into a tie for fourth place on the WCU all-time list with 15 career goals.

WCU's Lauren Atkinson joined Dittmer in moving up the career goals list when only two minutes later, she took a long run pass by teammate Nikki Lombardo and blew past the UTC defense to put her shot into the back of the net for the score. It was her second goal of the year, and moved her into sixth place on the all-time list with 14 goals in her WCU career. The score also gave Atkinson eight points on the season, putting her in the team lead.

Lombardo added to her point total at the 17:42 mark when she received a picture-perfect backwards heel flick pass from Shannon Fowkes across the box, waited for the UTC goalkeeper to commit to leaving the goal, and finished the play with a chip shot over the keeper's left shoulder from two yards out for her second goal on the year. Combined with her earlier assist, she ended the game with a team-high three points.

Just before halftime, freshman Liz Eichler picked up a rebounded shot by Rebekah Mumm and went far corner for her second career goal, putting the halftime score at 4-0 for the Catamounts. The four goal lead was the highest first-half margin achieved Western all season.

The second half brought just as many fireworks as the first, led off by Rachael Shomper's team-leading third goal of the season. Shomper's hustle to gather a long pass by Buki Baruwa that had gotten past the UTC goalkeeper allowed her to tap in the empty-net shot for the score. Shomper outran the entire Chattanooga (0-9-2, 0-4-1 Southern Conference) defense to get to the ball and get the easy shot.

WCU rounded out their scoring at the 62:44 mark of the game when Jenny Matteson put in her first goal of the season. The play was set up by the lightning-fast speed of senior defender Melissa Berry, who took the ball the length of the field, flying past Chattanooga defenders the entire way. As she approached the goal line, she drew the UTC defense in, then lifted a cross into the middle of the box, where Matteson took a one touch shot into the goal. It was the normally defensive-minded Berry's first assist on the season.

The six goals was the most scored in Coach Tammy DeCesare's tenure at Western, and the the highest goal total for the Catamounts since they put up eight in their Southern Conference tournament opening-round victory over The Citadel in 2004. The spreading of the offensive wealth was something that Coach DeCesare knows will be a benefit as the season winds down.

"With so many different people scoring, it was nice to see it spread around so much," she said. "We were able to get a lot of confidence in people. They were able to say to themselves, `I am capable of scoring, I'm capable of putting the ball into the net', and the more we're able to do that, the better we'll be in the long run."

The Mocs were able to get on the board late in the game, when freshman Serena Allen's shot was deflected into the goal, just past WCU goalkeeper Lauren Ross, who was seeing her first career action in the goal, and who is also on the Western Carolina softball team.

Ross and freshman Caitlin Williams combined for the win in the game, with Williams fielding four saves in 86 minutes of scoreless action.

The win moves the Catamounts back over .500 on the season, at 8-7-0, and puts them back into the race for a top-four finish in the conference with a record of 3-3-0. A top four finish at the end of the year would give Western a home game in the first round of a tournament, something that the WCU coaching staff knows very well.

"We said after the College of Charleston game that we needed to win each of our last five games to have a chance at a home game in the tournament," Coach DeCesare said. "If we're able to win those five, we know there's a very good chance at getting that first round game at our place. We also know if we let one game slip by, our chances become incredibly slim."

The season's final stretch of games continues for the Catamounts when they travel to Statesboro, Georgia to face the Georgia Southern Eagles, Friday afternoon. They will then return home for their final regular-season game at the Catamount Athletic Complex on Sunday afternoon against Davidson. It is also Senior Day, for the Catamounts so fans are encouraged to come out and send off the WCU seniors in style. Kick off for Sunday's game is scheduled for 4:00 p.m.