Covenant Women Win In USA South Tournament Opener

Thursday, October 26, 2017

Two first half goals was all the Covenant women's soccer team needed to get past Wesleyan 2-0 in a USA South Tournament first round match on Wednesday afternoon at Scotland Yard.

The No. 3 seeded Lady Scots move to 11-6 overall on the year. Covenant will travel to play No. 2 seed Piedmont on Saturday in Demorest, Ga., at 6 p.m. It will be the second straight year the two teams will square off in the quarterfinal round of the tournament.

To get past the No.

6 seed Wesleyan (7-9-1), Covenant got two first half goals and more stingy defense to earn the win. The Lady Scots were the more aggressive team at the outset as Covenant outshot the visiting Wolves 13-2 in the first half.

Addy Cronan scored on a header from close range in the 24th minute to give Covenant a 1-0 lead. A Rachel Lemay free kick from beyond midfield was deflected by a Wesleyan defender right to Cronan inside the box, who then got her shot past keeper Carlee Dykes for the score. The goal was Cronan's team-leading 11th of the year, and her fourth over the last two matches.

In the 37th minute, Covenant added to its lead. A misplay by a Wesleyan defender left the ball inside the 18-yard box where Molly Kate McClearn gathered it and then beat the keeper inside the six before knocking into the net for a 2-0 lead. The score was McClearn's third of the year.

Covenant had a 25-4 shot edge overall in the contest. The Lady Scots had opportunities from Cronan and Paige Simons in the second half to extend the lead, but Dykes made a couple of saves on those attempts. Megan Rasku led all players with six shots attempts, while Cronan had five. Dykes made five saves on the day.

Lemay made one save for Covenant while collecting her sixth shutout of the year. As a team, Covenant now has 10 shutouts for the season.

Covenant will head to Demorest, Ga., on Saturday to take on reigning USA South Tournament champion Piedmont in the quarterfinal round of the conference tournament. Match time is set for 6 p.m.