Sept. 23, 2011

Box Score

CHARLESTON, S.C. - Redshirt junior Samantha Hodge scored both goals in Western Carolina women's soccer's (6-2-1, 1-0 SoCon) 2-1 victory over The Citadel (2-6-1, 0-1 SoCon) Friday at WLI Field to open Southern Conference play.

"I am very proud of our effort today," said Head Women's Soccer Coach Chad Miller. "It wasn't our best 90 minutes, but we found a way t get the results."

Hodge's pair of goals book-ended a score by The Citadel to close out the first period. Western Carolina took an early 1-0 lead when Hodge took a shot from 30 yards out that went over the goalie Whitney Nave's head and into corner of the net 10 minutes into the match.

The Citadel tied up the match 18 minutes later, at 28:56. The Bulldogs' Vanessa Aponte hit a laser strike, off the assist from Hannah Warne, into the top right corner of the net.

Hodges' game winning goal occurred at 69:09 in the match, in the second period. Redshirt junior Kayla Beauduy changed the point and found Hodge at the top of 18. Hodge took Beauduy's pass and punched it into the right corner of the net for the game-winning score.

"It was a great combo play by two captains," Miller said. "It was a quality finish to the match."

Western Carolina's win over The Citadel improves the Catamounts' record over the Bulldogs to 9-1-1. It is the first WCU win over The Citadel since 2008, as the last two meetings were a tie and a loss.

The Catamounts took 13 shots in the contest while The Citadel banged on 20. Redshirt junior goalie Katie Jacobs improves to 6-2-1 at the net.

Western Carolina returns to action on Sunday at College of Charleston. Kick-off is set for 2 p.m.