Oct. 31, 2010
Marshall Women’s Soccer Defeats ECU 1-0 to Earn First-Ever C-USA Tournament Berth
The Thundering Herd wins three-straight to make playoffs
Special to Huntingtonnews.net
Huntington, WV (HNN) - Marshall women’s soccer earns its first-ever Conference USA Tournament berth as Megan Tabler (Ashland, Ky.) notched the game-winner at 105:43 to grab a 1-0 double-overtime victory against East Carolina on Thursday night at Sam Hood Field.
The Thundering Herd tallied its first regular season finale win in program history to improve to 7-8-3, 5-5-1 C-USA, finishing with its most successful season in conference since joining C-USA in 2005. The Pirates fall to 9-9-1, 4-6-1 C-USA and get knocked out of playoff contention.
“Another great result at home, this puts us at 6-1 at home this season,” head coach Kevin Long said. It’s always fun to get meaningful wins in front of a home crowd. It was great to play our final game and get a win on this last day, something that we have not been able to do in previous years.”
The two were evenly matched throughout the first half and it looked as though East Carolina was going to jump on the board first as Chrissy Gratz drilled a shot from inside the 18 yard box but a diving Lexa Hughes (Everett, Wash.) snagged one of her six saves on the night to keep the match tied at one going into the break.
MU controlled the pace of the second with plenty of opportunities to put itself on top. The first of which came from Sarah Vinson (Amelia, Ohio) who’s shot from inside the 18 blasted into the post with 32:27 left in the second stanza.
Less than a minute later Angela DeSumma (Doylestown, Pa.) setup a Kristen Berquist (Highland Village, Texas) header but a Pirate defender kick save kept the match scoreless.
Marisa Leconte (Greer, S.C.) would try once more for the Herd, as she pelted a shot off the crossbar with under a minute left in regulation.
The Thundering Herd would finally connect in the second overtime as Tabler crossed the ball over to the center of the field and dribbled through two defenders before rocketing a shot from outside the 18 yard box into the top left corner of the net for her third goal of the season.
“Megan has worked so hard on her long range finishing and today was a great example of a ball that I don’t think two years ago she scores but this year you can see all her hard work paying off,” Long said of Tabler’s goal.
Marshall outshot the Pirates 24-13 in the contest, while ECU’s aggressive play led to 14 Pirate offside’s.
MU defeated its final three opponents, earning first-ever victories against all-three to claim the sixth and final spot in the C-USA tournament, set to take place on Nov. 3-7 at UCF in Orlando, Fla.
The Herd will faceoff against Rice or Houston in first round action, as the two battle for position tomorrow night at 6 p.m.
www.HerdZone.com
Share This Story:
Make HNN Your Homepage (IE Users Only)
Marshall Women’s Soccer Defeats ECU 1-0 to Earn First-Ever C-USA Tournament Berth
The Thundering Herd wins three-straight to make playoffs
Special to Huntingtonnews.net
Huntington, WV (HNN) - Marshall women’s soccer earns its first-ever Conference USA Tournament berth as Megan Tabler (Ashland, Ky.) notched the game-winner at 105:43 to grab a 1-0 double-overtime victory against East Carolina on Thursday night at Sam Hood Field.
The Thundering Herd tallied its first regular season finale win in program history to improve to 7-8-3, 5-5-1 C-USA, finishing with its most successful season in conference since joining C-USA in 2005. The Pirates fall to 9-9-1, 4-6-1 C-USA and get knocked out of playoff contention.
“Another great result at home, this puts us at 6-1 at home this season,” head coach Kevin Long said. It’s always fun to get meaningful wins in front of a home crowd. It was great to play our final game and get a win on this last day, something that we have not been able to do in previous years.”
The two were evenly matched throughout the first half and it looked as though East Carolina was going to jump on the board first as Chrissy Gratz drilled a shot from inside the 18 yard box but a diving Lexa Hughes (Everett, Wash.) snagged one of her six saves on the night to keep the match tied at one going into the break.
MU controlled the pace of the second with plenty of opportunities to put itself on top. The first of which came from Sarah Vinson (Amelia, Ohio) who’s shot from inside the 18 blasted into the post with 32:27 left in the second stanza.
Less than a minute later Angela DeSumma (Doylestown, Pa.) setup a Kristen Berquist (Highland Village, Texas) header but a Pirate defender kick save kept the match scoreless.
Marisa Leconte (Greer, S.C.) would try once more for the Herd, as she pelted a shot off the crossbar with under a minute left in regulation.
The Thundering Herd would finally connect in the second overtime as Tabler crossed the ball over to the center of the field and dribbled through two defenders before rocketing a shot from outside the 18 yard box into the top left corner of the net for her third goal of the season.
“Megan has worked so hard on her long range finishing and today was a great example of a ball that I don’t think two years ago she scores but this year you can see all her hard work paying off,” Long said of Tabler’s goal.
Marshall outshot the Pirates 24-13 in the contest, while ECU’s aggressive play led to 14 Pirate offside’s.
MU defeated its final three opponents, earning first-ever victories against all-three to claim the sixth and final spot in the C-USA tournament, set to take place on Nov. 3-7 at UCF in Orlando, Fla.
The Herd will faceoff against Rice or Houston in first round action, as the two battle for position tomorrow night at 6 p.m.
www.HerdZone.com
Share This Story:
Make HNN Your Homepage (IE Users Only)
