No. 2 Western Washington 2, Central Washington 0
BELLINGHAM, Wash. -- Forward Kristin Maris scored a pair of late goals, lifting nationally-ranked Western Washington to a 2-0 victory against Central Washington on Saturday in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference women's soccer contest at Orca Field on the Whatcom CC campus.
The Vikings, ranked No. 2 in this week's NSCAA coaches' poll, improved to 9-0-0 overall and remain in sole possession of first place in the GNAC at 6-0-0. Central, which had a three-game winning streak snapped, fell to 5-4-0 overall and 4-2-0 in conference play.
Western had a 16-2 advantage in shot attempts, but didn't take the lead until the 78th minute when Maris slotted a penalty kick into the right side of the goal after a handball in the penalty area. Maris then got an insurance goal with just 21 seconds left, bundling in an Ashton Griffen corner kick to score from four yards out. The two goals give Maris a team-high six for the season.
The Wildcats' best chance came in the 13th minute, when Savannah Moorehouse headed a corner kick over the crossbar.
WWU goalkeeper Alyssa Beauchamp did not have to make a save as the Vikings notched their seventh shutout of the season.
WWU holds a 31-11-6 series advantage and is 9-1-2 in the last 12 meetings with CWU.
No. 3 Saint Rose 2, Saint Michael's 0
COLCHESTER, Vt. -- Saint Rose kept its unblemished record and season-long shutout streak intact at the midway point of the 2013 regular season with a 2-0 victory at Northeast-10 Conference rival Saint Michael's on Saturday.
The Golden Knights, ranked third in the latest NSCAA coaches' poll, again controlled the pace of play. They outshot the Purple Knights (0-9/0-7 NE-10) 23-5 and developed nine corner kicks, while yielding only one.
Senior midfielder Sydney Bond scored the game winner early in the second half and set up the insurance marker to become only the sixth player in school annals to record 100 career points. Sophomore midfielder Kristin Carr accounted for the other strike while fellow sophomore midfielder Amanda Vasquez collected an assist on Bond's tally.
After a scoreless first half despite eight shots by Saint Rose, Vasquez delivered a free kick that Bond knocked home with 56:06 gone by to make it 1-0. Seven minutes later, Carr collected a Bond feed and found the upper right corner.
Between the posts, senior Jessica Gerski and freshman Ashley Homer were called upon to make one save for Saint Rose (9-0/6-0 NE-10), while sophomore Kaylee Sullivan was forced to make seven stops for the Purple Knights.
Rollins 2, No. 4 Tampa 0
WINTER PARK, Fla. -- The Tars jumped out to an early lead on Saturday night and battled down the stretch, adding a goal late, to upset No. 4 Tampa 2-0 at Barker Family Stadium.
Emma Jones found the back of the net for the fifth time this season and Kelly McCormack scored her first collegiate goal as Rollins improves to 8-2-0 on the season, 2-0 in the SSC. Tampa was shutout for the first time this season, averaging almost five goals a game coming in, dropping to 10-1-0, 0-1 in the conference.
Mary Spring picked up the win, recording her third consecutive clean sheet, collecting one save in 90 minutes. Alyson Gregorowicz also played the full 90, allowing the pair of goals and finished with two saves.
The Tars outshot the Spartans 13-6 while Tampa took 15 corners compared to Rollinsâ three.
Jones gave Rollins the lead in the 23rd minute, taking a cross from Mora Johnson and snuck it inside the near post. Rollins would hold the one goal advantage heading into the half.
UT picked up the pressure in the second half, taking 12 of the 15 corners, but the Tarsâ defense held. With Tampa struggling to score, McCormack all but ended it in the 70th minute. Setup by a through ball by Brenna McKee, McCormack slid it past Gregorowicz putting Rollins up 2-0. The goal seemed to deflate the fourth-ranked Spartans as the Tars would hold on, sending Tampa home with its first loss of the year.
No. 22 Armstrong Atlantic 3, No. 6 North Georgia 2
DAHLONEGA, Ga. -- Armstrong Atlantic, ranked No. 22, overcame a two-goal first-half deficit to knock off No. 6-ranked North Georgia 3-2 in Peach Belt Conference action on Saturday in Dahlonega, Ga.
The Pirates (5-1-2, 3-1 PBC) notched their third consecutive league win while handing the Nighthawks (7-2, 2-1 PBC) their first league loss of the year.
The start of the match saw the Nighthawks build a 2-0 lead in the first 18 minutes behind preseason all-PBC forward Kelly Penston. Penston scored in the 14th minute off of a corner kick by Megan Morrow to put North Georgia ahead 1-0 then added her 10th goal of the season under four minutes later. She took a pass from Megan Gil and beat Armstrong keeper Morgan Luckie to the lower left corner of the net with her shot, making the score 2-0 in the 18th minute. The two goals came on the Nighthawks' first two shots of the match.
Armstrong started its comeback in the 34th minute as, after a corner kick, the ball came back out to junior Brianne Matarazzo, who sent the ball back into the box. Freshman Kailey Goins got onto the pass and beat North Georgia keeper Mallory Sayre for her first collegiate goal to make the score 2-1. The score would stay that way until halftime as Armstrong would outshoot the Nighthawks 8-4 in the first half.
The Pirates would draw even in the 55th minute as senior A'shanae Monroe would take a shot that Sayre initially saved, but Monroe charged in and put in the rebound for the equalizer for her first collegiate goal. Armstrong would then take the lead in the 67th minute as Monroe delivered the assist on sophomore Taylor Valley's second goal of the season, giving the Pirates the one-goal advantage.
North Georgia would get only one shot during the game's final 20 minutes as Luckie would make a save on Penston's game-tying try in the 88th minute to preserve the victory. Armstrong would finish the match with a 23-6 edge in shots over the Saints.
"[Saturday], we played with the heart and desire of a champion," Armstrong head coach Eric Faulconer said. "This is a difficult place to play. To go down 2-0 against the No. 6-ranked team in the country, in front of a huge crowd and storm back the way we did is a credit to our players.
"We got some huge performances today. This past week, the coaching staff challenged our players and our players challenged our coaches for all of us to be better. [Saturday], we came together as one. Moving forward, this team knows what we are capable of and now our focus turns to Clayton State."
Sayre made 11 saves in net for North Georgia, while Luckie made three saves in net for the Pirates. North Georgia held a 7-5 edge in corner kicks and the Nighthawks were whistled for 10 fouls, compared to five for the Pirates.
No. 7 American International 4, Stonehill 1
SOUTH EASTON, Mass. â American International (9-0-0, 7-0-0 NE-10) earned a 4-1 victory against the Stonehill Skyhawks (3-6-2, 3-3-1 NE-10) to keep its season-long unbeaten streak going on Saturday at Stonehill.
American International scored two quick goals to jump out to an early lead. Sophomore forward Alyssa Werbicki banged home a rebound of a shot by junior forward Sonia Basma at 8:18 of the first half for her second of the year; at 12:14, Basma finished a cross-box passing play that saw the ball move through senior back Allie Fitzsimmons and senior forward Caroline Boyce for a 2-0 lead on her team-high ninth of the year.
In the second half, the game was more even, but the Yellow Jackets struck first again, as Boyce took a corner kick at 67:55 and bent it into the net for her seventh of the year.
Stonehill almost immediately got that goal back, however, striking against the Yellow Jackets for the first time all season when junior forward Megan Sullivan snuck a ball home out of a scrum in front of the AIC net at 68:36. However, Boyce connected one more time to re-establish the three-goal edge, rifling home a blast off of the set up by Basma at 84:29 for her eighth of the year to close out the scoring.
Junior goalkeeper Samantha Tabak made three saves to improve to 9-0-0 on the year; AIC outshot Stonehill 27-6 and posted a 15-0 advantage in corner kicks.
