Northwestern State Goalkeeper Danku Scores Winning Goal In Overtime
Northwestern State 2, Louisiana-Lafayette 1
NATCHITOCHES, La. - Northwestern State freshman goalkeeper Jessica Danku ripped a free kick from 45 yards out into the left back corner of the net with just .8 seconds remaining in overtime as the Lady Demons edged out Louisiana-Lafayette 2-1 in women's soccer action on Friday night.
The extremely rare highlight came with the score tied at 1-1 and ULL (3-2) just whistled for a foul. NSU (2-3) readied for the free kick but head coach Jimmy Mitchell signaled for Danku to come up for the attempt as time ticked under 10 seconds.
Danku hit the ball with about four seconds remaining and it sailed over ULL goalkeeper Amanda Moorefield's outreached arms and into the back corner of the net with .08 seconds left on the clock as the Lady Demon benched emptied in a frenzy to meet Danku on the field.
"That was crazy," said Mitchell about Danku's goal. "That's the advantage of having a goalkeeper that can strike the ball so well. She constantly puts pressure on people and we're able to get an extra player forward. People just aren't used to seeing that."
"We had the free kick and coach said wait until eight seconds," said Danku. "I saw how close we were and I just knew I could hit it and I just went for it."
ULL got on the board first when Kelli Jestes headed in a cross pass from Jordan Blevins in the 11th minute to put the Ragin Cajuns up 1-0. That lead would hold until the second half when Northwestern State freshman Ashlee Savona netted a shot from the goal line after the ball was kicked around from a group of players a couple of times.
"It was great that we were able to get that first goal to tie it up that allowed us to go to overtime," said Mitchell who is 10 wins shy of 200 in his career. "We battled and it was a great win for us."
The Lady Demons stayed on the offensive for much of the second half and had several opportunities to score but Moorefield did a good job of keeping the balls out of the net for ULL.
"I thought the first 15 minutes we were good as we could probably be. Then we gave up the goal and we kind of faded a bit. They picked their level up and we didn't respond. But we regrouped at the half and came out and played really well in the second half.
"In my entire career of coaching or associated with soccer, I've never seen a goal like that," said Mitchell of Danku's score.
The Lady Demons will be back in action on Sunday when they host TCU at 2 o'clock at the Demon Soccer Complex.
Nicholls 2, Jackson State 0
NEW ORLEANS - Junior midfielder Sam Etherington got things going with her first goal of the season off a penalty kick, senior forward Kaity Mattsson gave the Colonels some insurance with her seventh goal in four matches, and redshirt junior goalkeeper Molly Mersereau tallied five saves for her first complete game shutout victory of the season as the Nicholls women's soccer team (3-0-1) picked up a hard-fought 2-0 win over Jackson State (1-2-0) on Friday afternoon at Pan American Stadium in New Orleans' City Park.
The match, originally scheduled for 4 p.m. at the Colonels' home field in Thibodaux was moved to Pan American Stadium due to unplayable field conditions.
Nicholls would find itself in a physical match with the Tigers, who entered the midweek contest after opening the season with a 1-0 win over South Alabama at home on Aug. 20 and a hard-fought 1-0 loss on the road at Lipscomb on Aug. 29. The two teams combined for 23 fouls on day, and Nicholls broke through with the first goal of the afternoon thanks in part to some overly aggressive Jackson State defense.
The Colonels pushed ahead in the 18th minute and junior forward Kandice Champagne had an open shot in the goal box, but was dragged down in the box by a JSU defender. The officials awarded the Colonels a penalty kick and Etherington buried it in the top left corner to put the Colonels up 1-0 at the 17:42 mark of the first half.
Neither side could break through the rest of the half as Mersereau and JSU keeper Allison Lane each recorded four first half saves to keep the offenses at bay and send the match to halftime with the Colonels up 1-0.
Nicholls came out strong in the second half, increasing their offensive pressure and outshooting the Tigers 6-3 in the second (14-9 on the day). The Colonels broke through again as senior midfielder Jasmine Elsayed served in a perfect cross to Mattsson on a breakaway down the left hand side of the field. Mattsson buried her seventh goal of the season by beating Lane on the top left shelf at the 57:31 mark.
With a 2-0 lead, the Colonel defense sitffened. The Tigers kept up the pressure, recording 10 corner kicks on the afternoon, six of which came in the first half. However, the Nicholls defense forced four of nine JSU shots off target and Mersereau made a save on the Tigers only breakaway of the second half to preserve the shutout win.
Friday's contest marked Mersereau's first complete game shutout victory of the season. The Riverside, Calif. native has not allowed a goal in her first 255:00 minutes of the season. However, Mersereau's first 120 shutout minutes came in a double overtime scoreless tie with Prairie View A&M, she sat out the Colonels' shutout 8-0 win over Alcorn State, and she only played the first half of the Colonels win over Southern before exiting the game with a 3-0 lead.
The Colonels will return to action on Sunday when they head north to take on in-state rival Louisiana-Monroe. Kickoff is set for 1:00 p.m. at UL-Monroe.
Already off to the best start to the season in school history, a win over the Warhawks would mark the fourth time the Colonels have reached their single season school record of four wins. Since the founding of the program in 1998, the Colonels have won four matches in 2003, 2006 and 2009.
Sam Houston State 1, North Texas 0 (OT)
HUNTSVILLE, Texas - Sophomore forward Kirby Zak blasted a muddy ball from 10-yards out into the middle of the netting in the 105th minute to give Sam Houston its first women's soccer victory of the 2010 season over North Texas Friday night.
A heavy rain storm that began 10 minutes before kickoff soaked the playing surface at Pritchett Field and turned the match into a contest of will in muddy, water soaked conditions.
"It was like playing in a swimming pool," Zak said. "You kick the ball as hard as you could and the mud would just stop it."
The lost was the first for North Texas who came into the match 4-0, having given up only one goal in 360 minutes of play. Sam Houston State was 0-4, having scored only once in four losses, three of the defeats by only one goal.
"This victory means a lot to us," Zak said. "I'm really not sure how I got the ball, who passed it to me or what exactly happened. All I know is I wanted to end the game, so I kicked it as hard as I could."
Freshman Tricia Mallory was the mystery woman who won the ball in the air for Sam Houston State and delivered to Zak's feet. The sophomore battled past a North Texas defender and took the shot from just inside the penalty spot.
Both teams had opportunities to score during the 90 minutes of regulation play. North Texas totaled 23 shots while Sam Houston State posted 11. Both goalkeepers, Jenny Pence for Sam Houston State and Haley Newsom for North Texas saved nine shots.
"With the field conditions, this wasn't a game of skill. It was strictly perseverance," Sam Houston State head coach Tom Brown said. "Kirby's goal was just a case of wanting it more. She did a good job of staying focused with the defender hanging on her, getting set and punching the ball in the back of the net."
Sam Houston State will play Texas Southern in Houston on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. The next home match for the Bearkats will be in two weeks against Baylor.
UTEP 2, Stephen F. Austin 1
NACOGDOCHES, Texas - Despite playing a man down for the final 37 minutes of the second half, Stephen F. Austin took UTEP to overtime Friday night. But the Miners got a goal in the extra period to come away with a 2-1 victory and hand Stephen F. Austin its first home defeat of the season.
UTEP's Brittany Kindzierski scored the game-winner on a rebounded shot in the 97th minute of play. It was her second goal of the contest and improved UTEP to 3-1-0 on the year. SFA moves to 2-3-0.
"We're extremely proud of the girls," Stephen F. Austin head coach Tony Amato said. "We thought it was going to be a hard game; we knew that coming in. We asked our girls to really make sure we worked hard, that we were competitive, and that we matched their toughness, and there's no question that we did that."
The Ladyjacks were the aggressors in the early going, hammering five shots on goal in the first period versus two for the visitors. One of UTEP's two attempts found the net, though, as Kindzierski opened the scoring just before halftime in the 42nd minute.
Stephen F. Austin answered barely two minutes into the second period with a goal off the foot of Brenda Salazar. Becky Johnson sent a high arcing ball into the box, and UTEP goalkeeper Chandra Morden came out to make a play on the ball. Salazar had slipped in behind her defender and was able to beat Morden to the ball and chip it up and over for the first goal of her career.
"Salazar has the potential to be a big-time forward," Amato said. "She's very crafty and we saw it on that goal. She was able to get behind and was just clinical with that finish. Some players just blast it, and she was able to lift it over the keeper."
Stephen F. Austin was dealt a heavy blow in the 52nd minute, when senior captain and defensive stalwart Kelli Barnes was issued a red card after a foul on a breakaway.
As a result of the foul, UTEP was given a free kick from just outside the box. Tess Hall drove two quick shots into a wall of Ladyjack defenders in front of the net, but SFA turned away both attempts. After the Ladyjacks had a chance to re-organize, UTEP didn't record a shot on goal the rest of the half.
"[When you play a man down] you have to be a little bit smarter," Amato said. "We asked them to make sure the 10 players we had on the field did a little bit more, gave a little bit more to make up for the 11th player who wasn't there. I think we did that without question."
The Ladyjacks pressed hard in the final seconds and came up with their best shot at a game-winner in the 89th minute. Kylie Louw stole a pass in the Miner backfield and caught UTEP out of position for a one-on-one with Morden. Morden came out to challenge and Louw drilled a low shot right off her hands for the 'keeper's seventh save of the game.
"We battled, we had chances to win the game," Amato said. "And then when we went down to 10 men it was going to have to be a real gritty performance. The girls grinded it out, we had chances to win it. It was great to come back to one-one, and even with 10 men to have a chance to win it down the stretch."
Kindzierski's second goal came after Tori Martyn rattled a long shot off the Stephen F. Austin crossbar. The ball bounced into open space, and Kindzierski slipped a low shot inside the far post out of the reach of a diving Courtney Bauder.
The Stephen F. Austin 'keeper finished with one save, while the Ladyjacks recorded two team saves. UTEP finished with a 17-13 edge in total shots, but Stephen F. Austin put eight shots on target against five for the Miners.
The Ladyjacks will be back in action Sunday, when they host Louisiana-Lafayette in a 1 p.m. contest.
Lamar 5, UT Brownsville 2
BEAUMONT, Texas - Lisa Hance scored two goals to lead the Lamar University women's soccer team to a 5-2 win over visiting UT Brownsville in a non-conference game Friday.
Kari Busch, Angie Guillory and Lisa Topping also scored for Lamar (1-2-0), which set a Lamar Soccer Complex record for most goals in a game. The Lady Cardinals outscored UT Brownsville 3-0 in the second half.
Linette Cuvillier and Verena Wonsikowski each scored for UT Brownsville (1-1-1).
Lamar returns home at 2 p.m. Sunday to host Prairie View A&M in a non-conference game.
Baylor 4, UTSA 0
WACO, Texas - Baylor broke open a close match with three second-half goals and the UTSA women's soccer team fell to 3-2 on the season after a 4-0 loss at Betty Lou Mays Stadium on Friday night.
Hanna Gilmore put the Bears on the board in the third minute with a goal off of a feed from Dana Larsen. Despite being out-shot in the first half, 17-2, the Roadrunners trailed just 1-0 at the break thanks to six saves by sophomore goalkeeper Dacia Webb.
However, the Baylor offensive attack proved to be too much in the second half.
Goals by Lisa Sliwinski, Brittany Hunemuller and Bethany Johnson put the match out of reach to help BU improve to 4-1 on the season.
UTSA is back in action at 1 p.m. on Sunday at the UTSA Recreational Sports Complex when it hosts Grambling (0-2).
UALR 2, McNeese State 1
LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas -- McNeese State's women's soccer team missed opportunities to score here tonight in a 2-1 loss to Arkansas-Little Rock.
"I thought we played a good first half. We stepped in with confidence and played a good."
Arkansas-Little Rock took a 1-0 lead early in the second half on an unassisted goal by Jacquelyn Paz. The Tojans added another goal less than seven minutes later on a header off a cross by Christina Veasley to take a 2-0 lead.
"We missed a couple of point blank shots that could have gotten us back in the game early. I we stepped up and defined ourselves as a team in the last 30 minutes of the game."
Freshman Johnna Germany scored her second goal of the season and career in the 89th minute off a Brittany Sanders assists. The assist by Sanders is her first of the season.
"We are still growing as a team and we grew more tonight. That's what we will continue to do and we'll see what happens."
McNeese will travel to Louisiana Tech Sunday for a 1 p.m. game. The Techster's will enter the game with a 4-2 record after a 3-1 win over Arkansas-Pine Bluff tonight.
Central Arkansas 0, Southern 0 (2OT)
BATON ROUGE, La. - Despite dominating the attack and stifling the Southern University offense for the duration of the game, the University of Central Arkansas women's soccer team was unable to record a goal and played to a 0-0 double overtime tie with the Jaguars on Friday.
UCA (1-2-1) appeared to have taken a lead in the 86th minute when sophomore Brittany Kemper found the back of the net, but the goal was disallowed due to an offsides call.
The Bears had no shortage of opportunities against the Jaguars (0-2-1), recording 30 shots with 12 on goal. Southern had just two shots for the entire 110 minutes of action with neither testing UCA goalkeeper Kelsey Gochnauer.
The Bears attempted 13 corners while limiting Southern to only one.
UCA had 12 different players attempt shots, with seven putting shots on frame against Southern keeper D'nae Capron.
The Bears return to play at home on Sunday when they host Lipscomb at 1 p.m. at the Bill Stephens Track/Soccer Complex.
UC Riverside 1, Texas State 0
SAN MARCOS, Texas - Texas State women's soccer suffered their third loss of the season at the hands of UC Riverside in the team's home opener at Bobcat Soccer Stadium. The Bobcats record now stands at 1-3-0 on the season, while UC Riverside gets their first win of the season to improve to 1-2-0.
Texas State came out strong and had good ball control in the first half, putting up six shots and six corner kicks. Freshman Sydney Curry had a nice view of the net in the third minute when she sailed a shot from 20 yards out, but it was saved by the UCR goalie.
"I think we came out hard tonight, I think we tried to take possession of what we've been trying to do," said Head Coach Kat Conner.
UC Riverside took the lead when they scored in the 39th minute after a goal ball Melisa Escamilla, assisted by Deborah Musa. The Bobcats were unable to answer back before the end of the period, and went into the break trailing 1-0.
Texas State came into the second half clawing their way back to attempt to tie the game as they took six shots in the period. Each shot was to no avail however, and Texas State still trailed with ten minutes to go. Texas State got two more shots before the end of the game, but did not result in a goal as the final score remained 1-0. Texas State amassed a total of 9 corner kicks in the game that did not result in any goals.
"We got a lot of decent chances in the game and we got a lot of corners on them, and that was the one part of our game that I thought we did pretty well. I also feel that we need to take better advantage of the corners we did have. Overall, I thought that our execution was pretty low and defensively we stuck to our game plan. We need to be a little bit more disciplined, and I think we'll be alright," said Conner.
Texas State returns to Bobcat Soccer Stadium to host Navy on Sunday at 1 p.m.
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