posted September 7, 2008
For the first time since early last season, the Lee Lady Flames trailed in a regular season women’s soccer match. Visiting William Carey University stunned coach Matt Yelton’s third-ranked team with a pair of goals in the first 18 minutes of Saturday night’s battle at the Lee Soccer Field.
The Lady Flames fought back to tie the game at two by halftime and then scored in the 56th minute to defeat the determined Lady Crusaders out of Hattiesburg, Miss.
After out-scoring their opponents 17-0 in the first two games, Yelton said the hotly-contested battle was good for his team. “I would rather see our girls tested like this in every game,” admitted the Lee coach. “This will make us a better team. I was glad to see us battle when William Carey jumped on top. That’s the mark of a good soccer team.”
Yelton praised the William Carey club. “I said they would be a tough test for us and I expect we will see them again somewhere along the line in post season. We played without four of our starters (Kristina Chase, Marina Lima, Christiane Christensen and Kristi Koudelka), but we had several girls step up and play well, especially in the second half.”
Lee wasted no time in grabbing a 1-0 lead. Meg Willette tallied her second goal of the year on an assist from Julie Donnestad. However, William Carey struck right back. The Lady Crusaders tied the game on Aimi Beresford. She was assisted by Abby Johnson. The visitors stunned the Lady Flames in the 18th minute as Natalia Nino rolled a shot into the back of the Lee goal. Beresford was credited with the assist.
Lee tied the rugged battle with less than a minute remaining in the first half. Freshman Jamie Achten tallied the goal and got a double assist from Candice Shelton and Tiffany Cox. In the 56th minute, the Lady Flames grabbed the lead for good. Achten got her second goal of the game and her third of the season. Samantha Hare and Willette posted the double assist.
William Carey applied tremendous pressure in the closing 10 minutes, but the Lady Flames resisted every attack. “We moved Kristine Tuck to center back in the second half,” said Yelton. “And that turned out to be a key move in our win. Samantha (Hare) also came up big for us in the second half. It won’t show in the stats, but Sandra (Kaelin) played well for us and Linn(Christensen) was strong the entire evening.”
Yelton also singled out the goalkeeping of Leigha Terry. “She played the entire 90 minutes and came up with a key save near the end of the game. The two goals scored by William Carey were not her fault. Terry recorded three saves during the game, while Lady Crusader keeper Valerie Split-Log had 10 saves. For the game, Lee attempted 20 shots and 13 were on goal. The visitors attempted 10 shots and five were on goal.
The Lady Flames will put their unbeaten and No. 3 ranking on the line again on Wednesday, when they travel to Waleska, Ga. to face SSAC foe Reinhardt College.
Flames, Crusaders Battle 2-Overtime Tie
Coach Henry Moyo watched his Lee Flames miss several golden opportunities to score late in the first half, and then had to battle back to force a 1-1 two-overtime tie with visiting William Carey University on Saturday evening at the Lee Soccer Field.
The tie left the Flames at 1-1-1 on the year and also left Moyo disappointed. “I was pleased with the overall effort of our team, but was disappointed when we couldn’t convert on scoring opportunities late in the first half. We can coach our players how to get into position to score, but we can’t put it in the goal for them. We have to go back to work on that Monday on the practice field.”
After the Crusaders fought off eight Lee shots in the first half and seemed pleased to have the score knotted at zero, William Carey jumped in front in the 49th minute of the hard-fought contest. Jared Wooley got the goal on a double assist from Ryan Weir and Rob Rogers.
The Flames waited until the 72nd minute to tie the contest. Senior Phil Drummond scored his first goal of the year as he chipped a shot over William Carey’s goalkeeper, Sean Mapsen’s head. The assist was recorded by Stanley Magwano.
The rest of the contest was strictly a defensive battle with neither team refusing to lose. For the game, Lee had 15 shots, but only one came in the overtime periods. William Carey managed five shots in the first half and just three in the second 45 minutes. Luidgi Beauzile had a pair of saves for the Flames, while Mapsen recorded three saves for the Crusaders.
The contest was filled with yellow and red cards. In fact, the Flames will not have Nathan Brown available for Thursday’s game with Southern States Athletic Conference opponent, Faulkner University. Brown collided with William Carey’s Mapsen in the 89th minute and picked up a red card. The Flames played short handed the rest of the way. All totaled, Lee was carded five times and the Crusaders drew three cards.
“It hurt not having Nathan for the overtime periods,” said Moyo. “And it will hurt more not having him for the conference opener against Faulkner. I thought the ball was loose in the box when he collided with the William Carey keeper, but obviously the referee saw it the other way.”
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