Lauren Peters’ unassisted goal was the difference in the Lady Flames’ 1-0 win at Union University Sunday afternoon. Lee improved to 5-3 overall and are now 4-1 in the Gulf South Conference (GSC), while Union’s record drops to 4-2, 2-3 GSC.
“We set out not to concede a goal, so that’s a positive,” said Lee head coach Chris Hennessey. “Union is always a difficult place to come to. They are a good team, work extremely hard and play good soccer.”
The Lady Flames improved to 6-0 all-time against the Lady Bulldogs with the last four matches being decided by a 1-0 margin. Lee has yet to surrender a goal to Union.
Peters scored in the 74th minute on a hustle play deep in the Union defensive third. The junior forced a Lady Bulldog defender to pass the ball back to the Union goalkeeper. Peters pressured the keeper, forced a turnover and shot into the empty net for the eventual game-winner. It was her second goal of the season.
The two teams combined for 33 shots in the match with 20 placed on goal. The Lady Flames held a 13-7 advantage in shots on goal.
Haley Gribler turned aside all seven shots she faced to record her second shutout of the season. Kristen Francis tallied 12 saves in the loss.
“We got the win. We can move forward and get ready for another challenging weekend,” added Hennessey. “We just need to tidy the basics up a little and try to freshen the legs up as well. We need to keep working through it, keep being positive, keep getting confidence and go forward from there.”
The Lady Flames will complete the second half of their four-match road stretch this coming weekend. Lee travels to Carrollton, Ga., to face West Georgia on Friday at 5 p.m. EDT before moving on to Florence, Ala., on Sunday to challenge North Alabama at 2 p.m.