Belmont With a shutout posted against North Florida, the Belmont women's soccer team advanced to the Atlantic Sun Tournament for the first time in program history. The Bruins halted their four match winless streak with a double overtime draw at Jacksonville before coming away with a 2-0 win over the Lady Ospreys over the weekend. Over the two-match stretch, senior Micaela Crowley became Belmont's career leader in minutes played (5600) and shutouts (16). Both records had stood since the 2000 season. Freshman Erica Carter notched both of the goals against UNF for her sixth and seventh of the season. She now leads the team in goals and points. The Bruins host Lipscomb in the Battle of the Boulevard in their final home match of the season on Wednesday before heading to Samford for the season finale on Saturday.
Campbell Campbell dropped a pair of 0-1 decisions last week to Kennesaw State and Mercer. Campbell is 1-7-2 in games that have been decided by one goal. Anna DiTommaso was tough in goal for the Camels as she totaled ten saves in two games. Kennesaw State used a penalty kick in the 88th minute and Mercer struck in the 21st to beat the Camels 1-0 in each match. Campbell is seeking its first league victory in its final A-Sun match, as they travel to Boiling Springs, N.C., to take on Gardner-Webb on Halloween.
Gardner-Webb The Gardner-Webb women's soccer team was unable to secure a spot in the A-Sun Tournament last week, falling to Mercer and Kennesaw State. This week, the Bulldogs need to defeat Campbell on Wednesday in Boiling Springs and have FGCU knock off Stetson on Saturday in order to grab the last spot in the tournament.
Jacksonville The JU women’s soccer team qualified for the A-Sun Tournament after drawing Belmont 0-0 and defeating Lipscomb 3-2 over the weekend. Junior forward Keri Zwikker vaulted her way back to the top of the A-Sun leader board with two goals (including the game-winner) and an assist over Lipscomb. Junior midfielder Heidi Dettmer scored the first goal of her career in the victory. Freshman goalkeeper Rebecca Stott kept her second career shutout against Belmont.
Kennesaw State KSU moved to 9-1 in league play with wins over Campbell and Gardner-Webb last weekend. The Owls now set up a Halloween showdown with in-state rival Mercer for the regular season title on Wednesday night. Annie Phillips scored her second career hat trick in the Owls' 6-2 win over Gardner-Webb on Saturday night. She now leads the team with 15 goals and 34 points. KSU has already wrapped up either the No. 1/No. 2 seed for next week's conference tournament, and will find out which spot it will receive based on Wednesday night's result against Mercer.
Lipscomb The Lady Bisons scored four goals over the weekend with a 2-1 win at North Florida and a 3-2 loss at Jacksonville. Four different players scored the goal. Heading into those games the Lady Bisons had a total of five goals for the season. The 2-1 win at North Florida was the first-ever A-Sun road win for the Lady Bisons. It was also their second A-Sun victory for the season, also a program record. Freshman forward Halie Proffitt scored the tying goal and assisted on the game-winner in the 2-1 win at North Florida.
Mercer On Thursday against Gardner-Webb, the Bears scored twice in the first half and controlled the ball the majority of the match to capture the 2-0 victory and increase their current winning streak to eight games. Freshman Kacie Hudson tallied her fifth goal of the season, a team-high, just fifteen minutes into the match. A pass from Kaelyn Horton in the right corner to Hudson above the box gave the Bears the early 1-0 lead. Mercer added an insurance goal with 55 seconds remaining in the first period. Meghan Castaldo notched her first goal of the season off a free kick pass by Hudson. The Mercer women’s soccer team made school history as they recorded their 11^th win of the season. The Bears defeated the visiting Camels of Campbell (1-11-2, 0-8-2) 1-0. Senior Catie Marshalek tallied her third goal of the year and scored what would be the game-winning-goal on a cross from Stefani Campbell twenty minutes into the first period.
UNF North Florida looks to rebound after two tough home losses, as they prepare to take on cross-town rival Jacksonville on Oct. 31. Elizabeth Gowan continues to be the Lady Ospreys go to player, leading the team with six goals and a .571 shots on goal percentage. Junior goalkeeper Rachael Howard continues to come up big for UNF, registering 84 saves this season and a .737 saves percentage.
Stetson This week the Stetson women’s soccer team hosted a pair of A-Sun conference games. On Friday the Hatters defeated USC Upstate 4-0. It was a team effort as 25 Hatters saw playing time, 11 registered a shot, and nine players picked up a goal or an assist. Goalkeepers Andrea Garavaglia and Caitlyn Peterson combined for the shutout. On Sunday the team saw its opportunity to secure a spot in the conference tournament put on hold with ETSU’s golden goal in the second overtime. Freshman Tessa Gavilsky scored her second goal in as many days and assisted on another. She now has four goals on the season.