Nov. 10, 2007
Box Score Photo Gallery
KENNESAW, Ga. - The Owls are champions of the Atlantic Sun Conference and will be heading to the NCAA Women's College Cup after knocking off Mercer, 2-1, in the finals of the A-Sun Women's Soccer Championships on Saturday night at the KSU Soccer Complex.
The automatic bid to the national tournament goes to the Owls (17-3-0) on the strength of a smothering defense and first-half goal by tournament Most Valuable Player, Caitlin Dingle and a second half header by Beth Meadors.
A furious attack by Mercer (11-7-2) in the final minutes of the match kept the result in limbo as Heather Manting cut the Owls lead in half in the 85th minute with a rebound off a deflection from a corner kick.
The Bears nearly got on the board minutes before, but Sarah Marek stopped a shot by Kacie Hudson that was headed for the open goal. The Bears kept constant pressure on the Owls over the final six minutes, but the KSU defense stood its ground.
The first goal of the night for the Owls came in the ninth minute when Dingle ripped a 20-yard blast past Jean Worts. Annie Phillips began the play finding Sara Clapham down the right side. After a nice piece of dribbling, Clapham delivered a fine pass through a pair of defenders to Dingle who finished to the lower right corner.
Kennesaw State had a chance to extend its lead in the 19th minute when Dingle's shot narrowly missed as her blast rattled off the post to the right of a diving Worts.
The Owls defense clamped down Mercer in the first half, allowing just three shots in the first 45-minutes of play thanks to the back line play of Jessica Kalonji, Bridget Gaughan, Sadjr Williams and Whitney Marler.
Meadors gave the Owls a two-goal lead in the 69th minute when she headed home a deflection off a free kick. The initial pass came from Sarah Marek on the right side as she delivered a low line drive that found the head of Maylee Attin-Johnson and bounced to Meadors as the Peachtree City native dropped in her third goal of the season.
Kennesaw State will now wait for the tournament selection show on Monday night to find out their first round opponent in the Women's College Cup. Play will begin on Friday, November 16 with second round matches contested on Sunday, November 18.
The Owls also enjoyed more postseason honors as four players were named to the All-Tournament team in addition to Dingle being named Most Valuable Player. Annie Phillips, Maylee Attin-Johnson, Sara Clapham and Beth Meadors were selected to the squad and along with Mercer's Worts, Kacie Hudson and Meghan Castaldo.
