Sept. 30, 2006
Box Score
KENNESAW, Ga. - Senior Annie Phillips scored a pair of first half goals as the Atlantic Sun Conference leading Owls blanked rival North Florida, 3-0, on Saturday afternoon at the KSU Soccer Complex.
The phrase a good defense beats a good offense was evident in the match as Kennesaw State (7-1-2, 3-0-1 A-Sun), leading the A-Sun in goals against average, shut down the conference's top scoring side.
"Our defense stepped up again today, especially in the second half," said head coach Rob King, who remains unbeaten against the Ospreys. "Staci [Pugh] came up big. She wasn't tested too much but made key saves when needed."
The Owls lightning came quickly as Phillips scored pair of goals in a 1:07 span late in the first half. The first goal came in the 43rd minute when she took a pass from Maylee Attin-Johnson and fired a shot into the upper left corner for a 1-0 advantage.
In the 44th minute, Phillips, who is tied for the team lead with four goals this season, took a pass from Bridgett Gaughan and put a shot past a rushing North Florida goalkeeper, Rachael Howard, for a 2-0 lead heading into halftime.
"Annie was fantastic today," commented King on her two-goal performance. "She came off the bench, was fresh and gave us quite a spark."
The Ospreys (7-3-0, 1-2-0) were able to put pressure on the Owls at times during the second half, but it was a combination of acrobatic saves by Pugh and excellent clearing by the KSU defense that preserved the shutout.
Rebecca Hall was once against stellar on defense, combining with Whitney Marler to limited North Florida's two leading scorers, Katelin Swift and Caitlin Kovacs to just two shots on goal.
The Owls would add a final insurance goal in the 88th minute when Abby Hirsch scored from 10 yards out after being set up by Sara Clapham and Beth Meadors.
Kennesaw State out shot North Florida, 17-15 with the Ospreys having 10 corner kicks to the Owls five. The shutout was the seventh for the Owls this season.
The Owls head off for a three-game road trip beginning on Saturday, October 7 against East Tennessee State. KSU will be home again on October 20, when they battle Lipscomb at 7:00 pm.
