KENNESAW, Ga. – Kennesaw State heads into postseason play coming off its highest-scoring affair of the season as the Owls dominated Stetson 6-1 Sunday afternoon at Fifth Third Bank Stadium.
Sydney Borgelt and
Brenna Young scored their first goals of the season and
Macie Rainwater notched a brace to power the KSU attack.
"We knew going into the day, we were going to be the No. 4 seed in the conference tournament," said head coach
Benji Walton. "But we want to go out there and win and not just win with the tiebreaker. So, we put that on ourselves and wanted to go out there and make a statement. It took us a while to get going in the first half, but we solved it in the second half. That first goal in the second half really took the pressure off us and got us playing free."
The Hatters maintained possession for the majority of the first half as they outshot KSU 9-2 over the first 45 minutes with
Allanah Blye making two saves to keep Stetson off the board.
The Owls opened the scoring early in the second half as Borgelt scored the first goal of her career three minutes into the second half off a corner kick that sailed in untouched to give KSU a 1-0 lead.
Kennesaw State kept its foot on the gas in the 51
st minute as a header by Rainwater found the back of the net after
Naomi Moleka booted a free kick for the assist. The Owls continued their offensive surge in the 58
th minute with another goal off a
Kendall Higgs free kick to put KSU up 3-0, marking the first time this season that KSU has scored three or more goals.
Stetson got on the board with a goal by Kyleigh Thelen in the 72
nd minute to cut into the Owls' lead. Kennesaw State quickly responded with two goals in 54 seconds with goals from reigning ASUN Player of the Week
Tianna Rivera in the 74
th minute and Rainwater again in the 75
th.
The Owls' defense only allowed six shots in the second half, with Blye making two more stops. Late in the half, Young scored her first collegiate goal of the season in the 84
th minute after her shot trickled in past the Stetson goalkeeper as Kennesaw State cruised to a 6-1 win over Stetson.
With the win, Kennesaw State finished the regular season 7-8-3 and a 5-3-2 mark in ASUN play, solidifying the No. 4 seed in the ASUN Tournament.
"The top eight in the ASUN was such a dogfight to get into the tournament this year," added Walton. "Eastern Kentucky is a high-scoring team if you let them get loose and they are going to have revenge on their mind. It's going to be a tough matchup in the first round, and we have to be ready."
Next Match
The Owls head to Lynchburg, Va. for the ASUN Championship Quarterfinal Game against the No. 5 seed Eastern Kentucky Colonels Thursday at 7 p.m.
To keep up with the latest on the Kennesaw State women's soccer team, follow the team on Twitter
@KSUOwlNation and
@KSUOwlsSoccer or by liking Kennesaw State University on
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