College of Charleston
The Citadel
W. Soccer Takes Down The Citadel
9/21/2014 9:36:00 PM | Women's Soccer
CHARLESTON, S.C. – The College of Charleston women's soccer team utilized a pair of second half goals to come from behind and defeat crosstown rival The Citadel, 2-1, at WLI Field on Sunday afternoon.
CofC (4-5-0) was always the more creative team and produced a 25-13 shot advantage, but was tested when the Bulldogs were awarded – and converted – a 13th minute penalty kick. Senior defender Claire Newman netted her first career goal to equalize the match in the 55th minute and freshman Mary Kate Bowers put the Cougars in front with the third goal of her season with just over 10 minutes to play.
“Anytime you play a rival like this, it's a battle of wills,” said head coach Christian Michner. “Sometimes tactics take a back seat a little bit, and it comes down to who's willing to work harder and put more pressure on the other team. The Cougars were up to the challenge today. Give credit to The Citadel though, one thing they do very well is work hard and make things difficult on their opponents. They did that today, but at the end of the day we created too many chances and finally buried some.”
After CofC dictated the early going, the Bulldogs pushed forward against the run of play until a tackle inside the penalty area brought on a PK. Vanessa Aponte capitalized on the opportunity for her fourth goal of the season and a 1-0 Citadel lead.
CofC threatened for an equalizer often, but went into the intermission trailing 1-0 despite a 12-6 shot advantage in the opening period.
Just under 10 minutes into the second, however, CofC's efforts finally came to fruition on one of nine corner kick opportunities. Sarah Cardamone swung a ball into the box and Newman elevated above the crowd to head the ball into the back of the net.
With a potential overtime period looming in the 80th minute, Hope Walker played a ball up from the midfield which Bowers ran onto before it crossed the endline and beat the goalkeeper one-on-one.
Lauren Killian made six saves in the contest to keep the Cougars in the match before receiving goal support and earning the victory.
The match was indicative of its crosstown rivalry roots and played extremely physically, summoning the referees to whistle 16 foul calls. The Cougars were the more disciplined side and limited themselves to six infractions.
The Cougars are now 13-1 all-time against The Citadel.
Charleston returns to action on Friday, Sept. 26 with a trip to Drexel for the start of the Colonial Athletic Association season. The Cougars and Dragons are set for a 7:30 kickoff.
Players Mentioned
