2008 Woodie Awards
Lady Govs still looking for OVC win
Patrick Horton
Issue date: 10/24/07 Section: Sports
| |
|
The Lady Govs lost to Jacksonville State University 1-3 and Samford University 1-2.
Before facing the JSU Lady Gamecocks (4-9-1, 3-3-1 OVC), the Lady Govs (6-10, 0-6 OVC) had not won against an OVC opponent this season. Both defenses prevailed in the first half and the score remained stagnant at halftime 0-0. It was not until the 52nd minute before either team scored. Unfortunately for the Lady Govs, JSU scored first. Sophomore Sarah Mcaulay scored from 20 yards out on a cross from freshman midfielder Debbie Matich.
The Lady Gamecocks could not rest. APSU senior Tyler Adair sent a beautifully placed shot into the back of the net from a 20-yard free kick. The rest of the game, however, was dominated by Jacksonville State who out shot the Lady Govs 18-6 in the second half.
Lady Gamecock's senior Courtney Moore scored the next goal in the 77th minute from eight yards out after dribbling through APSU's defense. "At some times we looked like we didn't even want to be out there," said freshman Michelle Thornstad. "We definitely didn't give our best effort against them." The final blow came in the 89th minute when JSU freshman midfielder Kim Kimmel scored off of a Michelle Smith deflection.
"Our struggle all year has been playing consistently," said head coach Kelley Guth. "We have a great group of young players who are getting a lot of minutes, but at the same time are not very experienced. At times I have seven or eight freshman on the field, and we are trying to get them some experience so that they will understand what it takes to compete on this level."
Some freshman have already proved they are ready to compete in the OVC.
"We've had stoic performances from Michelle Thornstad and Hannah Jones who have played primarily, the center back position this year. I think those two girls have done a tremendous job day in and day out playing solid defense for us," Guth said. "We went from having an experienced backfield with four senior defenders, two of which were all conference, to having a completely new back line. But we've had some first time players stepping up and making plays."
The Lady Govs next match was against OVC top ranked Samford (11-3, 6-0 OVC) in Birmingham, Ala. The Lady Bulldogs are ranked No. 32 nationally. The Lady Govs had no intentions of letting this daunting statistic throw them off course.
The Lady Govs went up early scoring in the 33rd minute. Junior Ashley Beck, scored on a deflection to give her the tie for the scoring lead in the OVC with nine. However, the Lady Bulldogs showed why they are first in the conference by retaliating fast. Four minutes later, senior forward Cassie Applegate scored on a pass from freshman midfielder Kelly Shaffer from 12 yards out. With the game at a stalemate, Samford freshman midfielder Hillary Samuels scored the game winning goal in the 42nd minute from 15 yards out. APSU had a chance to tie the game in the 75th minute when Beck dribbled her way to a one on one situation with the keeper.
Unfortunately Beck had a bad touch on the ball and it was deflected by Samford's goal keeper. The Lady Govs were shut out in the second half as Samford went on to increase their winning streak to eight, a school record, and to extend their OVC dominance to another week.
"This season has been a struggle for us in conference. This is a team that has been in every game and hasn't found a way to come out on top," Guth said. "I was very proud of our team today. We were right there neck and neck with the best team in our conference. So even though we came out losing the game the girls were motivated and proud of their effort. We're trying to think about the positive things from this past weekend so we can focus and play well in our last two conference games at home this weekend."
The Lady Govs go against Morehead Oct. 26 at 7p.m. and against Eastern Kentucky Oct. 28 at 1p.m.
Be the first to comment on this story