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KENNESAW, Ga. – The Kennesaw State soccer team concluded the 2012 season as No. 6 seed North Florida defeated the third-seeded Owls, 3-1, in the first round of the Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament on a chilly Saturday evening at KSU Stadium.
“We came out a little bit flat,” said Head Coach
Rob King. “I think North Florida was beating us to the ball early on in the game. It took us a little bit of time to recover. We did not possess the ball very well. They scored early in the game and I think they beat us to the ball most of the first half. Obviously, going in 2-0 down, we knew we had a lot to do in the second half because we dug a big hole. We generated a lot of chances in the second half. We finally got one to drop, but we hit the post, hit the crossbar, and I think they had four cleared off the line. I’m proud of the effort we gave. We dug ourselves a little bit too deep of a hole to get back into this one though.”
KSU concludes the season at 10-8-1 overall, finishing third in the conference with a 6-2-1 mark. The Owls’ 10-win campaign marks the ninth winning season in program history and the first since 2009.
UNF (8-9-2, 5-3-1) advances to face Mercer in the A-Sun Tournament semifinals on Friday, Nov. 2.
The Ospreys jumped out to an early 1-0 lead as Lauren Hopfensperger tallied the game’s first goal just five minutes into the first half. On a Keara Murphy corner kick, Thea Linkfield had her header shot blocked away from the goal and right to Hopfensperger, who finished the rebound by putting the ball in the back of the net.
UNF added a second score 30 minutes later as Alexi Zaremba blasted a shot from 35-yards out. The ball hit the right post and then deflected off of the head of diving KSU senior goalkeeper
Lauren Roberts (Rome, Ga./Marshall) and into the goal.
Heading into the second half, the Owls pushed forward in the attack. With KSU pressing, North Florida countered for its third and final goal of the match in the 69th minute. Michele Larrinaga fired a shot from the top of the box that sailed just over Robert’s reach for the 3-0 lead.
Redshirt-sophomore midfielder
Jewelia Strickland (Fayetteville, Ga./Alabama) put Kennesaw State on the board in the 82nd minute on a free kick from 40 yards out that floated just over UNF goalkeeper Brittany Hahn, but it would not be enough as UNF held tough to finish with the 3-0 win.
KSU outshot the Ospreys 14-13, but only had two shots on goal to UNF’s seven. Redshirt-sophomore defender
Alma Gardarsdottir (Grindavik, Iceland/Fjolbrautaskoli Sudurnesja) led the Owls attack with five shots, including one on frame. Redshirt-sophomore forward
Katrina Frost (Fayetteville, Ga./South Carolina) added three shots for KSU. Hopfensperger, Larrinaga and Carolina Lencina had three shots each for the Ospreys.
Kennesaw State earned seven corner kicks in the match, while UNF tallied six. Both teams combined for 21 fouls, with freshman forward
Danielle Gray (Peachtree City, Ga./McIntosh HS) being issued a yellow card late in the second half.
Roberts, playing 82 minutes of the match, collected three saves, while fellow senior goalkeeper
Melissa Hutto (Pensacola, Fla./South Alabama) did not register a save in eight minutes of action. Hahn notched one save for the Ospreys.
With the loss, the Owls bid farewell to seniors Roberts, Hutto,
Liz Blackburn (Bellevue, Neb./Bellevue East HS) and
Lexi Hastings (Ontario, Canada/Lassiter HS).
Keep up with Owls soccer in the off-season by following KSU on Twitter at @
KSUOwlNation and @
ksuOWLSsoccer, or by liking Kennesaw State Owls on
Facebook.
Kennesaw State University is celebrating 30 years of intercollegiate athletics during the 2012-13 academic year.
