Lee's Kinsey Cichowitz blocks out a defender in Sunday’s victory.
photo by Lee University
From the opening kick the Lee women's soccer team seemed comfortably in control of the match as they powered past Spring Hill College, 4-0 on Sunday afternoon at a sun-splashed Lee soccer field.
The Lady Flames struck early in the contest as freshman Nicole Blanchard curled in a goal from the top of the box at the 6:11 mark to give the home team the early 1-0 advantage.
Lee stayed on the attack with 10 shots in the first half to just three by the Badgers but the score would remain unchanged for the final 39 minutes of the opening period.
Coming out of the intermission the Lady Flames found the back of the net again with an unassisted goal by captain Kinsey Cichowitz in the 51st minute to extend the lead to 2-0.
Cichowitz now has three goals on the year.
"We are a bit of a 'Jekyll and Hyde' team at the moment. We have put together some really good performances and outings and then there are other days that I just don't recognize my team, " admitted head coach Matt Yelton. "We were that way today in the first half and didn't really create many quality chances to score, but in the second half really could have put a few more chances away."
Freshman Meagan Newman got in the on fun in the 66th minute as she notched her first collegiate goal when she headed home a corner by Cichowitz to stretch the margin to three.
Blanchard would add the icing on the cake with her team-leading sixth goal and second of the match in the 75thminute. Katie Cloud set up the score with a beautiful through ball to send Lee to the 4-0 victory.
The Lady Flames earned a split of their weekend Gulf South Conference (GSC) home-stand after coming up on the short-end of a 2-1 contest with West Florida on Friday evening.
Freshman Erin Olson and Senior Marbel Egwuenu teamed up for the shutout in goal for the Lady Flames. Olson played the first 45 minutes and registered one save in keeping the clean sheet. Egwuenu saw her first action since injuring her leg in last week's match at Valdosta and played the entire second half, recording a save.
Abby Massengale started in net for the Badgers. Massengale allowed one goal and tallied three saves. Maggie Dalessio would play the second period and allowed three goals while saving four shots.
Lee stuffed the stat sheet outshooting the Alabama-club 20-7 while placing 11 shots on frame. The Badgers had just two shots on goal. The Lady Flames were awarded 10 corners, including nine in the second half, to just three for Spring Hill.
The victory moves Lee to 5-4-1 overall and 4-1 in conference play. The Badgers fall to 3-6 on the year and just 1-5 in the GSC.
"It's a win and we will move on. We just have to try and find some consistency in our effort and performance as we have a very tough road weekend coming up with games away to West Alabama and Alabama-Huntsville," added Yelton.
Lee will battle the Tigers at 6 p.m. on Friday before traveling Alabama-Huntsville for a 2 p.m. kickoff on Sunday.
Men Defeat Spring Hill 3-0
Banged up and certainly bruised from a rugged two-overtime battle with West Florida on Friday evening, the Lee men's soccer reloaded and turned back defensive-minded Spring Hill College, 3-0, in a Gulf South Conference (GSC) contest on a delightful Sunday afternoon at the Lee Soccer Field.
"It is nice to get the first conference win," said Lee head man Paul Furey. "We played fairly well and earned out third consecutive shutout."
Lee's first score came in the 20th minutes on a penalty kick off the foot of Garrison Adams. It was his second goal of the season. The tally remained the same at halftime and rocked into the 62nd minute before David Perez delivered a perfect assist to Quade Marinell. It was Marinell fifth goal of the year and gave the Flames all the breathing room they needed.
With coach Furey going to his bench freely. The Flames put a little icing on the victory cake in the 87th minute when Travis Kiger got his second score of the season by hustling deep into the box and got the ball delivered on time from Marinell.
The Flames took 15 shots and put six between the bars. The Badgers got 11 shots and had three on target. Lee keeper Tom Halsall had three saves in the win. Daniel Patrick had two saves before being injured and Jacob Files came in to record one save.
The victory moves Lee's overall mark to 6-2-2 and 1-0-1 in the GSC. Spring Hill, a new member of the conference in soccer, dropped to 2-7-0 overall and 1-3-0 in league play.
Coach Furey is well aware that things could get even tougher next weekend. The Flames will visit West Alabama on Friday and move over to Alabama-Huntsville on Sunday. "We know the road will get tough as we travel to the Alabama schools," noted the coach. "Hopefully we will have everyone back and healthy."