Box Score
SPARTANBURG, S.C. -- Wofford sophomore forward Monica Ploetzke was the heroine for the second-straight game as she scored the game winner, her second goal of the night, with just over two minutes passed in the first overtime frame to give the Terriers a 3-2 OT triumph against visiting Coastal Carolina at Snyder Field Monday night.
Ploetzke, who joined the Wofford (2-0) squad midway through the 2006 campaign and only appeared in one game last fall, came off the bench to score the game's first goal at 40:10. After classmate Aubrey Thomson sent a cross to her, Ploetzke corralled the pass, turned and fired a shot from 20 yards out past Chanticleer goalkeeper Karen Pavlick. Her goal would hold up as the only tally on the scoreboard as the teams headed to the half.
Coastal Carolina (0-1), however, would not surrender as Ashleigh Gunning scored twice within a seven-minute period early in the second half to put the visitors up one. Her first goal came at 48:23 as she received a through pass from Sara Niles and then beat a Terrier defender. Gunning's second score was a deflection off her foot just in front of Wofford keeper Katie McChesney following a free kick from 40 yards out taken by Maegan Hellberg at 55:09.
The Terriers, though, would get the best chances of either team following the second Chanticleer goal. Wofford broke through with a game-tying shot from senior captain Whitney Steelman at 81:03. The play was initially set up near the midfield line as sophomore Kendra Merchant dropped a shot pass to Ploetzke, who then found a streaking Steelman down the right side. Steelman gathered the pass in stride and beat her defender before sending her shot across the goal mouth, past a charging Pavlick and sending the Terrier crowd into a frenzy.
Wofford allowed Coastal to get the first shot in the extra period, but Merchant again delievered a short pass to Ploetzke, this time from nearly 30 yards from the cage. Ploetzke sent her shot, the Terriers' only attempt of the overtime session, into the back of the net at 92:20 for her second game-winning goal of the early season.
The win was Wofford's first-ever overtime victory against a non-conference opponent since the Terriers began competition in 1994. It was also the program's first overtime triumph since a 1-0 win at College of Charleston Sept. 16, 2003.
Steelman, with her score, now has 36 career points moving her into a ninth-place tie with Christie Clark (1994-97) on the school's all-time list. Her 12 career goals also tie her for ninth all-time in the category with Amanda Leyland (1997-2000).
Wofford will conclude its season-opening three-game homestand with a 6 p.m. Friday match against VMI.
