Sophomore Crystal Mackezyk (Columbia, Tenn.) scored a goal in the 13th minute Friday evening against Gardner-Webb to give the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga a 1-0 win over the Bulldogs. Chattanooga is now 2-3-1 and GWU remains winless at 0-4.
“It was a good win for us against a good team,” UTC Head Coach J.D. Kyzer said. “It was a face-paced game that went back and forth with no real lull in the action.”
At the 12:25 mark of the game, freshman Hannah Wyatt (Soddy Daisy, Tenn.) launched a corner kick into the box that was picked up by senior Lauren Wilson (Columbia, Tenn.). However, her shot toward the goal was blocked. In the scuffle, Wyatt managed to get the ball to Mackezyk who got it past the Bulldog defense and keeper for what would prove to be the game winner.
“We talked about playing hard and making some sacrifices and we did that,” Kyzer said. “We talked about not giving up a goal in the first minute and not celebrating our goals during the game. We accomplished a great deal today with a lot of hard work.”
Gardner-Webb outshot the Mocs 13-9 with UTC recording five shots on goal to the Bulldogs seven. Freshman keeper Lauren Thomas (Germantown, Tenn.) came away with seven, a career high for the rookie.
The Mocs return to action on September 21 at Davidson to open Southern Conference play. The game is set to kick off at 7:00 p.m. on the Wildcats’ campus.