Box Score Game Stats
SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The women’s soccer program pulled together a crucial win Sunday afternoon, beating the Phoenix of Elon, 2-1. The win puts the Terriers back in position to grab a seed in the Southern Conference tournament coming up in the beginning of November. The win also gives Coach Kiah’s team their first victory in conference play, after having four dramatic double overtime finishes that ended in draws to conference opposition. The goals scored came from sophomore forward, Chelsea Ashworth, and junior midfielder, Anne Phillips. Wofford improves to a 6-5-4 regular season standing, and the win gives the team a 1-3-4 record in the Southern Conference. Elon drops to 9-6-1 on the year and falls to a 4-4 record in the Southern Conference.
With a determination to play an entire 90 minutes and get must-have points in the conference standings, the Terriers produced their most efficient offensive production in conference play. Emily Bougas started things up, nearly putting a goal in early in the first half at the six minute mark. Rachael Balckburn sent a low cross in from the right side and Bougas swung through the ball, one-timing the opportunity just over the cross-bar.
Elon answered the shot attempt with a few of their own, with their best opportunity in the first half coming from a string of attacks in the 30th minute. Wofford goalkeeper Kimberly Cohn saved a shot taken by Alanna Winsper and the ball rebounded toward the left side of the 18 yard box to the foot of Lindsey Nusdeo. Nusdeo fired a shot into the outstretched leg of a Wofford defender and the ball returned to Nusdeo. Nusdeo tried again from the same spot, only to have another Wofford defender produce the same result and block the shot before it threatened the net.
In the 34th minute, Chelsea Ashworth nearly put the first goal on the board with an opportunity from just inside the left side of the box. Ashworth lined up a shot with a clear path to the goal available, but Elon’s keeper Kristen Haney made a save to keep the scores blank.
Ashworth redeemed herself minutes later giving the Terriers their first goal of the match. Anne Phillips pushed forward a streamline throughball to Nikki Siebert on the run. Siebert took the ball in stride and shot the ball toward the Phoenix net. Haney had to stretch to save the shot fired from Siebert, but the ball ricocheted to Ashworth, who had followed the run inside the box. Ashworth knocked the ball into an open net, giving Wofford a one goal lead. Ashworth tallies her second score of the season and Siebert and Phillips were awarded the assist.
At the end of the first 45 minutes, the score stood at 1-0, Wofford. The Terriers had four shots, with three of the shots being on target. Cohn grabbed three saves in the period to keep the Phoenix off the board.
Wofford kept their momentum rolling in the second half, scoring in the first three minutes after exiting the locker rooms. Lauren Cozzarelli set up the Anne Phillip’s goal by dribbling in the box and taking a shot toward the Phoenix net. Haney made a saved to keep Cozzarelli’s shot out of the goal, but Anne Phillips was there to take advantage of the rebound, knocking in a ball in the net with a similar fashion to the first Terrier’s goal. The score accounts for Phillip’s third goal of the season.
With the score 2-0, Wofford, the Phoenix looked to get back in the game with a few shots, but Cohn was there to fend away all attacks, until the 76th minute, when Elon’s Jaclyn Wood put the Phoenix on the board. Wood took a pass from Brittany Hallberg and shot the ball from the right side of the 18’. The shot just slipped by Cohn and put Elon just one goal away from tying up the match.
The Wofford defense held strong in the last 14 minutes, holding the one goal lead and giving the Terriers the win. Maggie Bosely, Sydney Reed, Megan Wellborn, and Erin Stephenson started and finished the match for the Terriers at the defensive spots, and each player had strong play to keep the lead for the entire 90 minutes. Cohn was a key player for Coach Kiah’s team, saving five Elon attempts and playing strong in the air keeping Elon crosses and corners attempts at bay.
At the end of the match, the final score was 2-1 Wofford. Anne Phillips was a key contributor in the game, accounting for a goal and an assist. Phillips commented on the teams’ play, stating, “We’re just taking it one step at a time right now. We have three games left after this one and they are all winnable games. Our word of the week was ‘believe’, and that is what we have been doing. We believe we can make it into the conference tournament, and get even higher than seed No. 8.”
Lauren Cozzarelli and Nikki Siebert each had strong performances, with both players posting assists and a shot on goal. Wofford tallied six different shots, with five being on frame, giving the Terriers a .83 shots on goal average and a .33 goal average.
Before today’s match, Wofford stood in 12th place in the conference. The win will bump the team to ninth, just one point behind the No. 8 spot, Western Carolina. Only the top eight teams in the Southern Conference advance to the tournament, so the outcome of Wofford’s last three matches will determine whether or not the Terriers advance to the coveted tournament. Be sure to support the Terriers this coming weekend as they travel to the Citadel and College of Charleston and look to put themselves in tournament competition.
