The second round of the 2023 NCAA DII National Women’s Soccer South Region Tournament turned out to be a battle of two halves between host and second-seeded Lee University and third-seeded Florida Tech on Sunday afternoon at the Ray Conn Sports Complex.
Playing under perfect conditions, the Lady Flames dominated the first half only to see the visiting Panthers come roaring back in the second stanza and claiming a 2-1 victory. The loss was the first of the season for Lee (16-1-4) while Florida Tech advanced with a 15-2-3 overall record.
It marks the second time in the past three years that the Panthers have eliminated the Lady Flames from national tournament play.
After missing some golden opportunities to put a shot inside the bars for most of the first 45 minutes, the Lady Flames broke on top in the 42nd minute (42:44) when Jordan Blair delivered a corner kick to Kate Dirkse who headed her shot over the head of the Florida Tech keeper. The “specialty” of Dirkse was her eighth goal of the year. “It is something we spend a lot of time working on in practice,” said Blair in a press conference after the game.
In the opening half, the Lady Flames had a total of four shots and limited the Panthers to only two. It was a total reversal in the second 45 minutes. Florida Tech fired 12 shots and limited Lee to only four. For the game the visitors finished with 14 shots overall and the Lady Flames eight. The final stats show Florida Tech having six on goal and Lee only two.
The Panthers looked like an entirely different team in the second 45 minutes and got the equalizer in the 58th minute on the first goal of the season by Lydia Carroll. She was assisted by Lauryn Wood. The scored seemed to stun Lee for a time. Florida Tech scored the winning goal in the 71st minute (71:09) on the 10th goal of the year by Wood. The goal was unassisted.
Lee goalkeeper Josie Taylor was making her fifth start of the year and suffered the loss. She allowed two goals and had four saves. On the other side, Ayana Olyagi allowed one goal and picked up a save in recording her 15th win against two losses and three ties. The Lady Flames picked up three corner kicks with two coming in the first half, and the Panthers had two corners, both coming in the second stanza.
-The second round of the 2023 NCAA DII National Women’s Soccer South Region Tournament turned out to be a battle of two halves between host and second-seeded Lee University and third-seeded Florida Tech on Sunday afternoon at the Ray Conn Sports Complex.
Playing under perfect conditions, the Lady Flames dominated the first half only to see the visiting Panthers come roaring back in the second stanza and claiming a 2-1 victory. The loss was the first of the season for Lee (16-1-4) while Florida Tech advanced with a 15-2-3 overall record. It marks the second time in the past three years that the Panthers have eliminated the Lady Flames from national tournament play.
After missing some golden opportunities to put a shot inside the bars for most of the first 45 minutes, the Lady Flames broke on top in the 42nd minute (42:44) when Jordan Blair delivered a corner kick to Kate Dirkse who headed her shot over the head of the Florida Tech keeper. The “specialty” of Dirkse was her eighth goal of the year. “It is something we spend a lot of time working on in practice,” said Blair in a press conference after the game.
In the opening half, the Lady Flames had a total of four shots and limited the Panthers to only two. It was a total reversal in the second 45 minutes. Florida Tech fired 12 shots and limited Lee to only four. For the game the visitors finished with 14 shots overall and the Lady Flames eight. The final stats show Florida Tech having six on goal and Lee only two.
The Panthers looked like an entirely different team in the second 45 minutes and got the equalizer in the 58th minute on the first goal of the season by Lydia Carroll. She was assisted by Lauryn Wood. The scored seemed to stun Lee for a time. Florida Tech scored the winning goal in the 71st minute (71:09) on the 10th goal of the year by Wood. The goal was unassisted.
Lee goalkeeper Josie Taylor was making her fifth start of the year and suffered the loss. She allowed two goals and had four saves. On the other side, Ayana Olyagi allowed one goal and picked up a save in recording her 15th win against two losses and three ties. The Lady Flames picked up three corner kicks with two coming in the first half, and the Panthers had two corners, both coming in the second stanza.
Coach Chris Hennessey's Thoughts:
"Congratulations to Florida Tech they are a really good team. It was a tale of two halves and they were better in the second half and deserved to win. It is a tough one to swallow but we have to pick ourselves up now and figure it out moving forward."
"For some reason we got out of our system in the second half and that could have made a difference, but give Florida Tech credit, they are a really good team. I don't want to lose sight of what a great season it has been even though it is hard after a loss."