By: by Matthew Farhadi
Gametracker
Game Notes
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - The Kennesaw State women’s soccer team will conclude its weekend in Knoxville, Tenn. on Sunday afternoon when they take on No. 14 Maryland in their final match of the First Tennessee Lady Volunteer Classic at 12:30 p.m. in Regal Stadium at the University of Tennessee.
Heading into Sunday’s match, the Owls have a 2-0-1 record, and if they come out with a win it will match the program’s best four-game start to a season in its Division I history. The 2008 team started its season with a 3-0-1 record as well.
The Black and Gold are coming off a hard-fought, 0-0, tie against the Richmond Spiders on Friday night that went to two periods of extra time. The tie was the first for the Owls since Oct. 10, 2008 when they tied Belmont, 0-0.
Owls senior goalkeeper Staci Pugh led the way for her squad, recording seven saves to preserve the tie, and juniors Kristin Marietta and Brittany Vining each led the way offensively with four shots a piece.
Five Owls played the full 110 minutes without being taken out of the game on Friday night. Those players were Staci Pugh, Thais Gibson, Sadjr Williams, Brittany Vining and Alyssa Mahan.
The stat of the match in the scoreless tie was that the Kennesaw State back line forced the Richmond offense to jump offsides an astounding 17 times in the match.
The Owls will now shift their attention to ACC member, and No. 14 nationally-ranked, Maryland who is coming off a 3-1 win over Tennessee on Friday night.
Maryland (3-0-0) is coming off of a 3-1 victory on Friday night over hosting-Tennessee. The Terrapins were picked to finish in sixth place in the Atlantic Coast Conference Preseason Poll, finishing last season with an overall record of 14-6-2. They have eight starters returning this season from a team that qualified for the NCAA Tournament last year, and are led by junior forward Jasmyne Spencer, who was named to the 2010 Hermann Trophy Watch List, an annual award given to the top NCAA Division I women’s soccer player.
The Owls know what kind of an opportunity Sunday's match is for the program, as Kennesaw State has never beaten a top-25 ranked Division I opponent in its history. Junior midfielder Thais Gibson is looking forward to the challenge.
“We are very excited to be playing a team like Maryland, but at the same time we have to give it everything we have to try to get the result we want,” Gibson said. “This will be a tough match for us, but it is a good opportunity, as well, because it will make the team stronger, and more confident, heading into conference play.”
The match is scheduled for a 12:30 p.m. start time.
