SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The No. 8 Wofford women's soccer team held off a late push from the No. 9 VMI Keydets to earn a 3-2 win at Snyder Field on Tuesday. The win advances the Terriers to the SoCon Quarterfinals in Cullowhee, North Carolina, with No. 1 Western Carolina on Friday.
 
The Terriers dominated possession in the first half, taking five shots in the first 20 minutes of action. Megan Childress and Mary Liese Grier highlighted the early attack, with both players registering two quick shots. VMI countered the latter shot with an attempt of its own, but freshman keeper Elizabeth Navola earned her first save of the night on the try.
 
Ines Obradovac carried the momentum further, leading a charge that saw six more shots to end the half, but none would find the back of the net. The stingy Wofford defense held the Keydets scoreless in the first stanza while only giving up four shots. The Terriers would head into the break dead-set at 0-0.
 
The second half saw a much more action packed 45 minutes, with VMI finding two clean looks early on, but the quick hands of Navola turned away both shots. After several quality attempts in the first half, the Terriers finally broke through the VMI defense in the 54^th minute when Megan Childress scored her first goal of the night. Freshman Kate Markey tallied her fifth assist of the season on the score to give the team a 1-0 lead.
 
"In the first half we were getting great opportunities, but we just were not putting them away, so to put them away in the second half and see the energy come back to us was really good," said Megan Childress on the Wofford offensive attack.
 
The Keydets stayed aggressive, however, taking four more shots in hopes of finding a quick equalizer. Ellie Gower flipped the pitch on VMI, finding Megan Childress for her second goal of the night and her seventh goal of the season. Gower registered the assist to extend the lead to 2-0. The brace from Childress marks the first brace by a Terrier in the SoCon Tournament since Hayley Younginer in 2018.
 
VMI would not go away, scoring its first goal of the game in the 79^th minute to cut the deficit to one score. Wofford responded with a beautiful header from Aly Bernhard for her first-career goal to give the Terriers a 3-1 lead in the 83^rd minute. Ellie Gower sent in a perfect corner kick from the right side for her second assist of the game and her third of the season. Gower becomes the first Terrier to record two assists in one game since Alexis Mapplebeck in 2022.
 
"It was a beautiful ball from Ellie Gower," said Aly Bernhard on her first collegiate goal. "Before the ball was played, I told myself, 'You are going to get on that ball.' It's awesome to see our team go on to the next round. It's a great group of girls, so I'm excited."
 
The Keydets had one final effort left with a goal in the 89^th minute to shorten the lead to 3-2. The Terriers were able to clamp down for the final minute of action to secure their third-straight season with an opening round win in the SoCon Tournament.
 
"It's really nice to play a conference tournament home game and send the seniors out on a good note," said Head Coach Elissa Post. "We were hoping to be able to produce more on the attacking side, and I think we did. We were really pleased with our offense from top to bottom tonight."
 
The Terriers tied their season high with 20 shots tonight compared to VMI's 19. Ten shots on goal for Wofford is a new season high, with nine in the win against Winthrop as the previous high. Elizabeth Navola recorded a career-high 10 saves on the night.
 
The Terriers advance to the quarterfinals and will face off against No. 1 Western Carolina on Friday in Cullowhee, North Carolina. The team advances to the next round for the third consecutive year and the second-straight year beating VMI in the opening round. Last season Western Carolina and Wofford faced off in the quarterfinals, and it was the Catamounts claiming a 5-0 victory.