Oct. 16, 2009

Box Score

Cullowhee, N.C. - The Western Carolina women's soccer team fell 1-0 to the College of Charleston in a tightly contested match that featured the school's second-largest crowd ever of 1,094 at the Catamount Athletic Complex on Friday evening.

A penalty kick at the 56th minute by the Cougar's Julie Romanik proved to be the game winner as the College of Charleston (10-4-1, 6-1-0 SoCon) remained atop the Southern Conference standings. Western Carolina fell to 5-6-4 overall and 2-3-2 in conference play.

"I thought the girls probably played the best 90 minutes they had put together all season," said Catamounts coach Tammy DeCesare. "It was unfortunate, a penalty kick is never really a way that you ever want to lose or win on."

WCU threw a flurry of shots at the Cougars in the final minutes. Western Carolina utilized a Sam Hodge corner kick at the 87th minute that allowed a Jenny Matteson shot that missed just inches wide of the left post. Another Hodge corner in the last few seconds allowed the final Cats opportunity, but it was thwarted by a diving save by College of Charleston goalkeeper Sarah Wiggers.

"We made (the final minute) exciting," said DeCesare. "We did have a heck of a run in the end. We did get some opportunities. Give credit to College of Charleston, they have a good team."

The Catamounts narrowly edged the Cougars in shots, 11-10. Also, WCU outshot the College of Charleston, 7-4, in the second half. The Cats also controlled the corner kick advantage, 4-2.

Matteson led the Catamounts with four shots, while Shanna Schmoker followed up with two, both of which were on goal.

The College of Charleston used a strong offensive attack in the eighth minute of the first half, reeling off three consecutive shots, but they were stonewalled by Cats goalkeeper Caitlin Williams. Williams, a junior from Liberty, S.C. collected four saves in the match.

Romanik's conversion on the penalty kick was the result of a handball called inside the penalty box at the 56th minute. Romanik, a senior midfielder for the Cougars, planted the ball in the right side of the net for the tally. Cougars goalkeeper Sarah Wiggers deflected three shots, earning her fifth shutout of the season.

The thousand-plus mark was just shy of the all-time record of 1,189 that was set against the College of Charleston on October 13, 2006.

Coach DeCesare was very thankful for the great Catamount fan support, "When you have a fan base like this, it's easy to keep up the energy for the entire game. The team really appreciates the fan support and we hope they will return to watch us play on Sunday."

Western Carolina will resume play at home this weekend with The Citadel. Sunday afternoon's match with the Bulldogs will be Senior Day. Fans are encouraged to attend the match and support the nine Catamount seniors that helped capture a Southern Conference Championship in 2008. Kickoff is at 2:00 p.m.