By: by Matthew Farhadi
Game Notes
Live Stats
KENNESAW, Ga. – Winning on the road in conference play is usually something most teams struggle with, but the Kennesaw State women’s soccer team feels right at home away from home as they look to continue its Atlantic Sun Conference road success when they travel to DeLand, Fla. to take on Stetson on Friday evening.
The Owls (6-4-1, 3-1-0 A-Sun) are 6-2-0 in their last eight road conference matches, and boast an impressive 3-1-0 overall road record this season.
Kennesaw State is coming off an A-Sun weekend split last weekend in which the Black and Gold were involved in a pair of tightly-played 1-0 matches.
The Owls dropped a tough, 1-0, match to Jacksonville at home last Friday night. The Dolphins got a goal midway through the first half, and Kennesaw State couldn’t come up with the equalizer. Junior
Kristin Kranick had the best chance in the 76th minute, but her shot from inside the box was saved by the Jacksonville goalkeeper. It was the first time since a 1-0 loss to East Tennessee State on Oct. 18 of last season that the Black and gold were shutout in a conference match.
On Sunday afternoon, Kennesaw State bounced back with a solid, 1-0, win over North Florida. The Owls were led by junior
Alyssa Mahan and senior
Staci Pugh. Mahan scored the only goal of the match in the 15th minute of play, while Pugh made three saves for her third shutout of the season, and 23rd of her career.
In Sunday’s win two players also paved their way into the Kennesaw State record books. With the three saves in Sunday’s win Pugh became the all-time Kennesaw State saves leader with 267 for her career passing Jessica Marek. Junior
Brittany Vining moved into a tie for ninth all-time in program history with 17 assists, tying Alissa Saylor.
Kennesaw State is looking to move to 4-1-0 in the A-Sun, which would be its best start in the league since 2007, when the Owls went 5-0-0. To achieve that mark the Owls will have to go through a tough Stetson squad on Friday evening.
Owls head coach Rob King knows that the Hatters will throw everything they have at his squad, but the team's confidence is high.
"We're anticipating a very tough challenge from Stetson on Friday evening. They are always a very physical team, and we know it will be a high energy game on their home field," King said. "We're coming off a good win on Sunday, and we are beginning to gel defensively. We've worked on a few things offensively in practice this week, and we look forward to a solid result."
Stetson (4-6-1, 1-2-0 A-Sun) was picked to finish sixth in the A-Sun Preseason Poll and are coming off a 11-7-2 record last season. Under tenth-year head coach Julie Orlowski, the Hatters return six starters, including two-time A-Sun Player of the Year Tessa Gavilsky, who leads Stetson with 11 points on three goals and five assists. Stetson is coming of a, 4-1, win over Campbell on Thursday night.
The Owls are 3-1-1 all-time against the Hatters.
Kick-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.
