By: by Jessica Steadman
Box Score |
Photo Gallery
KENNESAW, Ga. – After falling behind 1-0 in the first half, Kennesaw State fought back, scoring two goals in the second half, the winner coming on a penalty kick by freshman Jade Dempster, to defeat Belmont, 2-1, and win its second Atlantic Sun Conference championship in the last three years and earning a bid to the 2009 NCAA Women’s College Cup.
“It’s exciting for our girls to win the A-Sun championship,” said head coach Rob King. “Belmont was a tough competitor and both teams fought very hard.”
From the opening whistle, it was a hard fought, physical match with both teams vying for the automatic bid to the national tournament. Senior Maylee Attin-Johnson started Owls offensive attack with a header right in front of the Belmont goal that missed wide left.
Belmont, who finished tied with the Owls for the regular season title, also threatened early as they consistently kept the ball down in Owl territory. Bridget Gaughan, the A-Sun Defensive Player-of-the-Year, and the Black and Gold back-line stepped up, batting away two corner kicks from the Bruins and turned away every offensive attack in the first half.
The Owls aggressive defense led to Belmont’s only goal of the match as a foul midway through the 18th minute led to a penalty kick by Jessica Rix. The Bruins lead came when Rix shot to the left side, as Kennesaw State goalkeeper Staci Pugh broke right.
“It was disappointing to give up the penalty kick,” said Owl goalkeeper Staci Pugh. “I tried to do the best I could with it, but I had total faith in our team to come back. There was never a doubt in my mind, I knew we would win that game.”
Kennesaw State had several opportunities to tie the game in the first half as their pressing offense led to four corner kicks, all of which were all cleared by the Belmont defense. The fourth attempt, which came in the 44th minute, was the Owls best scoring opportunity when Alyssa Mahan’s corner was headed by Gaughan to Sadjr Williams, who took a shot which sailed just wide, keeping the Owls down at halftime.
“We didn’t play very well in the first half,” said King. “We gave them the penalty and went down 1-0, but spoke at halftime and regrouped and decided that we would rather get beat 4-0 than 1-nill so we wanted to put a lot of pressure on them and push up in the second half.”
The match became very physical in the second half as momentum switched to Kennesaw State’s favor. After a Katie Scott shot attempt sailed high, the Owls tied the match when Attin-Johnson tied the game in the 51st minute. The Owls senior and Trinidad and Tobago native, received a cross from Brittany Vining from the right wing, then put a move on a Bruins defender before sending a shot just past the out-reached hands of Belmont’s All-Conference goalkeeper, Sari Lin.
With the outcome hanging in the balance on each possession, Pugh came up big again for the Owls, making a terrific one-on-one stop against Belmont’s Erica Carter, stopping the initial shot then falling on the rebound. The Kennesaw State defense continued their domination stopping two more Belmont corner kicks and not allowing the Bruins offense to get anywhere near the net.
Just as the match looked destined for overtime, a scrum in the box resulted in a handball call against the Bruins, which gave the Owls an opportunity to take the lead on a penalty kick in the 87th minute. Dempster, who took her first penalty kick of the season, made good on the opportunity, placing a well-taken penalty kick into the lower left corner of the net to give the Owls the 2-0 advantage.
“I picked my spot before I even got to the ball,” Dempster said of her game-winning goal. “Rather than thinking about taking the penalty kick, I just kept concentrating on the floor and staring at the ball and blocking out everyone else. I felt confident taking the shot.”
For the final two minutes of the game, the Black and Gold tried to keep possession of the ball and prevent Belmont from having a chance on goal, which allowed the one goal lead to stand.
“I couldn’t ask for a better senior year,” said Gaughan. “We won the A-Sun regular season; we just won the tournament title. Everyone has worked as hard as they could and I am so happy that we pulled out the win.”
After the match, six Owls were named to the A-Sun All-Tournament Team including Thais Gibson, Dempster, Dingle, Attin-Johnson, Gaughan and Pugh, who was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player, Pugh.
Kennesaw State will find out who their opponent will be in the in the first round of the 2009 Women’s College Cup on Monday night at 8:00 p.m. on ESPNews.
2009 Atlantic Sun Conference Women’s Soccer Championship
Championship Match
Kennesaw State 2, Belmont 1
* Kennesaw State receives automatic bid to the 2009 NCAA Women’s College Cup
Tournament Most Valuable Player
Staci Pugh, Kennesaw State
All-Tournament Team
Maylee Attin-Johnson, Kennesaw State
Elizabeth Bublis, Belmont
Jade Dempster, Kennesaw State
Caitlin Dingle, Kennesaw State
Bridgett Gaughan, Kennesaw State
Thias Gibson, Kennesaw State
Sari Lynn, Belmont
Annie Musacchio, Belmont
Staci Pugh, Kennesaw State
Alexa Rooney, Jacksonville
Emily Yero, Stetson
