By: by Jessica Steadman
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KENNESAW, Ga. – Kennesaw State’s Caitlin Dingle scored two goals in the first five minutes and the owls led 5-0 at halftime before beating Lipscomb, 7-0, on Friday night in Atlantic Sun Conference action before the largest crowd of the season at the KSU Soccer Complex.
The Owls (6-5-0, 4-2-0 A-Sun) wasted no time taking the early lead, scoring just three and one half minutes into the game when Dingle accepted a cross from Marietta at the top of the penalty box and picked her spot in the bottom left corner to finish her shot.
Less than a minute later, Dingle scored again with a goal to the bottom left corner, past a diving Ally Marler to put the Owls up 2-0 in the fifth minute for her second multi-goal game of the year.
“I had great assists on both of my goals,” said Dingle. “My teammates set me up perfectly. I got the ball in front of the goal, picked my spot, kept it low and it worked out.”
The Bison (3-10-0, 1-4-0 A-Sun) had a scoring chance in the 13th minute when Kate Spellman sent a free kick to Katie Wood whose header glanced off the cross bar, but that was as close as Lipscomb would the remainder of the night.
Kennesaw State resumed momentum when Brittany Vining centered the ball to Kristin Marietta, who scored her first goal of the year with a shot into the bottom right corner of the net, putting the Black and Gold up by three goals.
The Owls offense was relentless, scoring two more goals before the half came to an end as Maylee Attin-Johnson scored her first goal of the season with a header to the top of the net in the 22nd minute. Marietta picked up her second goal of the match when she found the back of the net in the 37th minute to give KSU a 5-0 lead.
The Black and Gold kept possession of the ball throughout most of the second half, taking 12 shots while allowing Lipscomb a single shot. Every player on the Owls squad saw playing time, including Melissa Hutto, who played the entire second half in goal.
“The substitutions we sent in played very well,” added Coach King. “The level of play never dropped off, no matter who was in the game.”
In the 53rd minute, the Owls took a 6-0 lead with the first goal of the season from Vining, who also had three assists in the match. The sophomore midfielder went one-on-one with the Lipscomb keeper, sending a shot past the fingertips of Erin Zerio.
In the final seconds, Jade Dempster cleaned up a rebound off a header from Kristin Kranick that was deflected by the Lipscomb defense in front of the net to give the Owls the 7-0 victory.
The Owls recorded their fifth shutout of the season and their fourth in league play as the defense, led by Bridget Gaughan, Thais Gibson and Sadjr Williams, limited Lipscomb to just three shots while the Black and Gold took 26 shots.
Kennesaw State continues conference play on Sunday afternoon when they host first-place Belmont, who tied Mercer in Macon, Ga. on on Friday.
“We’re ready to take on Belmont,” said Dingle. “They are a good team, but we have something to prove. I think it’s really important that we play well and the way we ended this match tonight is a great way to set the tone for Sunday.”
The match will begin at 2:00 p.m. at the KSU Soccer Complex.
