By: by Matthew Farhadi
Box Score
KENNESAW, Ga. – Freshman
Alma Gardarsdottir converted a penalty kick in the 86th minute of the match to give the Kennesaw State women’s soccer team a hard-fought 1-1 tie against East Tennessee State on Sunday afternoon at KSU Soccer Stadium.
The tie moves the Owls to 8-6-2 (5-3-1 A-Sun) for the season, while the Buccaneers go to 7-7-2 (3-5-1 A-Sun) on the year. The draw also made history as today was the first overtime match ever played in KSU Soccer Stadium history.
East Tennessee State opened the scoring in the 10th minute of the match as Jessica Huntington took a ball that got through the Owls’ defense and rifled it past Kennesaw State goalkeeper
Staci Pugh on the lower left side for a 1-0 lead.
After the quick tally by ETSU both sides settled in defensively as there were few quality scoring chances for the rest of the half.
The second half was much more intense and physical as both squads really went at each other knowing how important this game was.
Kennesaw State nearly scored the equalizer in the 65th minute as junior
Alyssa Mahan flicked the ball behind the Buccaneer defense to a sprinting
Shelby Cosby, but Cosby’s shot from inside the box was smothered by ETSU goalkeeper Caitlin Gaughan.
The Owls maintained possession on East Tennessee State’s side of the field for most of the second half, and the Black and Gold finally caught a break.
In the 86th minute, junior
Kristin Kranick received the ball in the box and went to make a move toward goal, but she was taken down by an ETSU defender and the Owls were awarded a penalty kick.
Gardarsdottir stepped up to take the penalty kick and she drilled a shot towards the lower right side of the goal that slipped underneath Collins to tie the match at 1-1.
Gardarsdottir is now 3-for-3 in converting penalty kicks this season. That is the most penalty kicks by an Owl in a season since 2007 when Sara Clapham went 4-for-4.
The match went into two periods of overtime in which no team could score a goal, and the game would end in a 1-1 tie. The Black and Gold were much more aggressive in the overtime periods outshooting ETSU 6-1, but couldn’t put one in the back of the net.
Kennesaw State outshot East Tennessee State 19-11, and had an 8-4 edge in corner kicks. Junior
Brittany Vining led the Owls with four shots, while Pugh made four saves in the tie.
Today’s draw further complicates things in terms of playoff scenarios for the Owls. As it stands if the season ended today the Black and Gold would be the number four seed, and host a quarterfinal match against Stetson. Kennesaw State still has a chance at the number two seed, and a first round bye, but they will need some help. The Owls will need to defeat in-state rival Mercer on Homecoming next Saturday, and they will need Jacksonville to defeat North Florida.
Head Coach Rob King likes his team’s chances as they look ahead to their big showdown against Mercer on Saturday.
“We have played them a lot of times in the past, and we have had great success against them. We will be a confident group going into that match. We won’t underestimate them, but at the same time we have matched up well against them in the past and we will be looking for that heading into Saturday.”
Kennesaw State will be back in action on Saturday, October 23 as it will host Mercer on Homecoming and Senior Day. The match starts at 6 p.m.
