Oct. 19, 2008
Box Score
Photo Gallery
KENNESAW, Ga. - The Owls offense erupted for three second half goals on Sunday afternoon, including a pair by Kristin Kranick as Kennesaw State defeated USC Upstate, 4-1, in front of nearly one thousand, sun-drenched fans at the KSU Soccer Complex.
"This was a good result for us," said a pleased head coach Rob King. "We put away some chances, played solidly on both sides of the ball and controlled the pace of the match."
With Kennesaw State's win and Belmont's, 1-0, loss at Florida Gulf Coast, the Owls (9-4-4, 4-2-2 A-Sun) moved into sole possession of second place in the Atlantic Sun Conference.
The Owls applied pressure early with nearly all of the action in the first 25 minutes of the match played in the Spartans end of the field. The Owls had 13 shots in the half, but it was an own goal in the 39th minute, coming off a corner kick by Caroline Austin that produced the first goal of the match and gave the Black and Gold a 1-0 lead.
Kennesaw State scored two goals in the second half, the first coming in the 48th minute when Sarah Marek set up in front of the Owls bench and played a ball in towards Katie Scott who took the pass and found Kranick; who then put a quick move on a rushing Brittany Daughtry, beating the Spartans keeper for a 2-0 advantage.
The Black and Gold would add to their lead in the 64th minute when Kranick scored her second goal of the match. The freshman took a pass from Scott, beat two defenders and scored her fifth goal of the season, scooting a shot to the left of Daughtry.
The Spartans (3-11-0, 1-6-0 A-Sun) would get a goal in the 81st minute when Caitlin Robinson scored from five-yards out, sliding a shot to the left of the Owls Jamie Moroney.
The Owls concluded the day's scoring when Yasha Blount scored her first goal of the year in the 86th minute on a breakaway, which was started at midfield by Beth Meadors and continued by Katie Schwartz.
The victory gave the Owls back-to-back wins for the third time this season. The Owls defeated Alabama A&M and Jackson State to begin the season and then took consecutive games from Jacksonville and North Florida.
The four-goal game was the third-highest scoring game this season for Kennesaw State. KSU scored eight goals against Alabama A&M in the opener and put up five goals against North Florida.
Kennesaw State will head out on the road for the final time on Wed., Oct. 22 as they will face the Camels of Campbell University. Kick-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. in Buies Creek, N.C.
