August 17, 2012

Women's Soccer Beats East Carolina 2-1 on Clark's Golden Goal

Taylor Brown (Bennett Scarborough photo)

Final	1	2	OT	T
East Caro. (0-1)	0	1	0	1
Campbell (1-0)	1	0	1	2

Scoring Summary
1st - 6:50	BROWN, Taylor (Campbell)
2nd - 66:32	MILLER, Lexi (East Caro.)
3rd - 98:41	CLARK, Ashley (Campbell)

East Caro.	Campbell
G: MILLER, Lexi - 1 A: FULLER, Rachel - 1 Sh: GRATZ, Chrissy - 6 Sv: CORDERO, Christiane - 3	G: 2 Players (#3, #9 - 1) A: 2 Players (#7, #25 - 1) Sh: Ashley Clark - 6 Sv: Ryann Torrero - 9

TEAM STATISTICS	East Caro.	Campbell
Shots (on goal)	17 (10)	11 (5)
Saves	3	9
Fouls	6	2
Corner Kicks	8	5
Offsides	4	1

full stats

full gallery

The regular season opening game for the Campbell women's soccer team was highlighted by a 90-minute weather delay and a golden goal in overtime, as the Camels beat East Carolina 2-1 Friday.

The Fighting Camels were tested early as East Carolina midfielder Rachel Wechsler broke away in Campbell's penalty box for a one-on-one with Campbell goalkeeper Ryann Torrero. The senior had a swift reaction from her line for her first save of the year.

Six minutes later, Campbell sophomore Alexis Prada was fouled 25 yards from the Pirates'goal. Senior Taylor Brown netted the free kick in the upper right corner over ECU keeper Christiane Cordero.

The Camels' next best scoring opportunity of the half came in the 19^th minute. Sophomore Ashley Clark had an open look on the edge of the Pirates' penalty box with no ECU defenders in front of her, but her shot went just wide of the goal.

ECU had one more scoring opportunity before halftime. In the 25^th minute, ECU defender Rachel Fuller slid a pass behind the Camel defense to forward Chrissy Gratz, who sailed the ball over the goalpost.

The teams left the field for halftime with the score at 1-0 in favor of Campbell.

ECU had the first scoring opportunity of the second half in the 50^th minute by Fuller. Her shot went to the upper right corner of Campbell's goal, but Torrero stretched to get the save.

The game was suspended with 31:51 left in the game due to lightning. After a delay of an hour and 40 minutes, play resumed at 9:55 p.m.

Eight minutes after the game restarted, ECU grabbed their first goal of the match. Fuller crossed the ball from the right side outside the penalty area to teammate Lexi Miller who put it in the back of the net.

The two sides continued to battle back and forth until ECU created three scoring opportunities. In the 76^th minute, Pirate Kendall Frey took a shot from the edge of the penalty box, but Torrero contained it with a diving save.

Less than a minute and a half later, Torrero made game-saving back-to-back stops. The senior deflected a shot from Gratz before Kelsie Halsenrud sent a shot towards the upper net. Torrero jumped to push the ball over the crossbar, denying ECU the last threat they had in the half.

Regulation ended tied at 1-1, and the teams went into overtime, battling to score the golden goal. In the fourth minute of extra time, Prada passed the ball to senior Kirsty Meyer to the right of ECU's penalty box. Meyer crossed the ball to Clark, who was waiting in the middle of the box. She took a shot on her first touch and sent it past Cordero, clinching the first win of the season for the Camels.

The Camels will have a week to prepare to take on Francis Marion Friday, Aug. 24 at 7:00 at Eakes Athletic Complex.