College of Charleston
No. 2 Samford
W. Soccer Takes Down Samford; Advances in SoCon Tourney
10/28/2012 9:47:00 PM | Women's Soccer
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The College of Charleston women's soccer team downed Samford, 2-1, to advance to the semifinals of the Southern Conference Tournament on Sunday afternoon.
The Cougars, as the seventh seed, struck first for the 12th time this season with a header by Haley Hutchens (Irmo, S.C.) and Michaela Herrmann (Centennial, Colo.) netted the game winner after second-seeded Samford had equalized late in the first half.
The Cougars advance to the tournament semifinals, also hosted by Samford in Birmingham, Ala. The Cougars will take on three-seed Furman on Friday, Nov. 2 at 7:30 p.m. (CST).
“This was a great game,” said head coach Christian Michner. “I think we probably had the better of the play in the first half and they were a bit sharper in the second half, so it was a very even, well-played match. They are a great team and extremely well coached, so we knew going in this was going to be a tight match.
“We did a great job of creating chances early and maybe missed some opportunities in the beginning, but persevered and stuck with it for the full 90 minutes.
“To win games like this, especially at this stage of the season, requires a whole team effort and we had that today. The entire team was dedicated to playing together, perhaps the most I've seen us during my career here. Our players played for each other and we earned the result.”
The Cougars (7-11-1) were dominant in the early going and created a wealth of scoring chances immediately after the opening whistle. They finally broke through on one such chance in the 20th minute when McCallie Jones (Charlotte, N.C.) sent an attractive ball into the box with one of her signature summersault-style throw-ins and Hutchens rose above the crowd to head the ball into the net for the 1-0 lead.
The Bulldogs would insert themselves back into the match after falling behind and equalized in the 33rd minute when Adrianne Mancino sent a high-arching cross into the box and Katie Danehy was positioned to head the ball into the net.
The teams headed into the intermission deadlocked at 1-1 after CofC outshot Samford, 10-5, in the opening period.
The Bulldogs were more offensively oriented in the second half and CofC's defense weathered Samford's 15 second-half shot attempts.
Late in regulation, the match started to flow rapidly from end to end with both sides creating a flurry of chances as a potential overtime period drew near.
In the 84th minute, Jackie Weston (Mooresville, N.C.) moved the ball to Herrmann on the left flank and Herrmann's shot to the far post was precisely placed to slip inside the post for the 2-1 Cougar lead.
Samford dictated a sense of urgency as its elimination now loomed, producing four consecutive shots and three corner kicks in the remaining minutes but the Cougar defensive corps was up to the task and preserved the win.
The Cougars will now prepare for Friday's match against Furman, a rematch of a match which CofC claimed, 1-0, on a late goal on Sept. 23 at Patriots Point.
“We'll get back to Charleston to regroup and then head back to Birmingham for a quick turnaround,” said Michner. “We are now focused on preparing for another very difficult match against Furman. We know how tough they can play, so we'll need the same team effort we had today. The bottom line, especially in this conference, is that anything can happen. We need to be as prepared to step out on Friday night as we were today. If we are; we'll be successful.”
Players Mentioned
