By: by Jessica Steadman
Box Score
KENNESAW, Ga. – It was a night of firsts for the Owls as four different Kennesaw State women’s soccer players scored their first goals of the season in the Black and Gold's, 6-0, win over Alabama A&M on Sunday afternoon at Cobleigh Field.
With the KSU Soccer Complex submerged in water due to heavy rain in the Kennesaw area, the Owls traveled to Harrison High School where they played the match.
“Today was a little tricky,” said head coach
Rob King. “We wanted to get the game in, so I'm glad we were able to do that. We're not used to playing on turf, so that was an interesting experience for us. It made the pace of the game a lot quicker."
Katie Scott got things started for the Owls (3-3-0) in the first half, taking the first shot of the game which was followed by a shot that sailed high from
Maylee Attin-Johnson.
The Bulldogs (0-9-0) had one of two shots in the first half from Christina Igono that was saved by KSU goalkeeper,
Staci Pugh.
Attin-Johnson almost put the Black and Gold on the board when her shot was blocked by A&M keeper Whitney Jackson. Rebounding quickly, Attin-Johnson’s second shot was just wide.
Red-shirt senior
Caitlin Dingle quickly went to work, putting the Owls up 2-0 in the 35th minute off a long pass from
Katie Schwartz on the far right side. The goal was Dingle’s first of the season.
“I got caught in the middle between Sadjr (Williams) and Katie (Schwartz),” said Dingle. “Katie found me with a nice pass and I was able to get a good strike on it.”
The Owls had several more opportunities to score in the first half, taking 16 shots while the KSU defense was on-spot, holding A&M to just one shot in the half.
Mahan and Vining took the first shots for the Black and Gold in the second half. After Mahan accepted a cross from Vining that sailed wide, Vining took her own shot that sailed just right from 10 yards out.
Scott scored her first goal of the season after
Thais Gibson sent a long ball to Scott who broke away from a Bulldog defender, giving KSU a 3-0 lead in the 63
rd minute.
Alabama A&M did not give up as Celeste Roberts took one of six shots for the Bulldogs in the second half, a straight shot from 10 yards out that was right at the Owls’ keeper,
Melissa Hutto, picking up her first save of the season. Hutto ended the match with two saves.
The Owls quickly took a 5-0 lead on a breakaway from
Kristin Kranick who accepted a cross from Mahan that found the back of the net in the 73
rd minute. The goal was Kranick’s first of the year. Just minutes later, Dingle was fouled and scored her second goal of the match on a penalty kick in the 79
th minute.
Freshman
Liz Blackburn scored her first collegiate goal of her career in the third
minute after rebounding a shot from the foot of Savannah Duet and sending it past the A&M keeper to give the Owls the 6-0 victory.
"I was pleased with how we scored some of our goals today,” said Coach King. “But I feel we played down to our opponent a bit. We have some work to do in the coming days to get ready for conference opponents.”
The Owls will resume Atlantic Sun Conference action next weekend when they host Stetson on Friday, Sept. 25 at 7:00 p.m. and then host Florida Gulf Coast on Sunday, Sept. 27 at 1:00 p.m. at the KSU Soccer Complex.
