Lenoir-Rhyne Wins 2010 Food Lion SAC Women’s Soccer Tournament Championship With 3-1 Win Over Wingate
ROCK HILL, S.C. - The Lenoir-Rhyne University Women's Soccer
Team (16-2-1) defeated Wingate University (13-3-3), 3-1, Sunday
afternoon to win the 2010 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference
Tournament at Manchester Meadows in Rock Hill, S.C.
The Bears, the No. 1 seed, won their first-ever league tournament
title after beating the third-seeded Bulldogs and clinched their
first trip to the NCAA Division II Playoffs. The pairings for the
playoffs will be announced Monday evening at 7 p.m., via a webcast
selection show on NCAA.com.
Lenoir-Rhyne, which captured its first SAC Regular Season
Championship last Saturday, set a school record for wins in a
season as it bested the 1997 squad.
After a scoreless first half, L-R finally got on the board in 55th
minute when junior midfielder Kaelia Frazier (Cedar Falls, Iowa)
scored her fourth goal on the year on a breakaway.
The Bears pushed the margin to 2-0 at the 67:38 mark when junior
forward Laura Linehan (San Diego, Calif.) connected on a chip shot
off a pass from the corner by sophomore midfielder Elizabeth Hawes
(Valdese, N.C.).
|
Lenoir-Rhyne's Kaelia Frazier dribbles against Wingate during Sunday's tournament championship against Wingate. Frazier scored the first goal for the Bears. Photo by Kristen Hines Baker |
The Bears remained on the attack and added another quick goal.
Two and a half minutes later, Hawes also assisted on Lenoir-Rhyne's
third and final goal of the contest when she found senior
midfielder Audrey Moore (Dublin, IRELAND) for an open goal in the
70th minute. Both Linehan and Moore now have six goals on the
year.
Wingate spoiled L-R's bid for the shutout when junior forward Kelly
Adams (Matthews, N.C.) scored off a deflection on a goalkeeper save
at the 71:40 mark. The Bulldogs, however, couldn't get any
closer. The goal was Adams' fifth of the 2010 season.
Lenoir-Rhyne sophomore goalkeeper Caitlin Scruggs (Torrance,
Calif.) picked up the win after allowing just one goal while saving
seven shots. Wingate's goalkeeper, sophomore Miriam Boucher
(Calgary, Alberta, CANADA), suffered the setback despite tallying
five saves.
Junior midfielder Catherine Hauck, the 2010 Player of the Year, was named the tournament Most Valuable Player. Hauck had the only goal in Lenoir-Rhyne's 1-0 quarterfinal victory over Lincoln Memorial and added another goal in L-R's 2-0 semifinal victory over Newberry.
|
Lenoir-Rhyne's Catherine Hauck receives her tournament MVP award from SAC Commissioner Patrick Britz. Photo by Kristen Hines Baker |
Joining Hauck on the All-Tournament team from Lenoir-Rhyne are Frazier, Moore and Scruggs. Wingate placed three on the All-Tournament team: Adams, Julie Zielinkski (Erie, Pa) and Samantha Baldwin (Stallings, N.C.) Also on the All-Tournament were Newberry goalkeeper Megan Hrenchir (Lawrence, Kan.) and defender Cassie Smith (Lyman, S.C) and Tusculum forward Patience Leonard (Greeneville, Tenn.) and forward Tramicka James.
Lenoir-Rhyne Coach Adrian Blewitt
Post-game
interview video
"It was a really tight match. At halftime, both teams were
playing a little cat and mouse. I thought we could catch them on a
counter attack without opening ourselves too much. We had some
forwards come on. I thought Lizzy Hawes was spectacular up front.
We took some chances as well and then kind of played straight and
narrow for the last 25 minutes and took care of business by doing
what we needed to do defensively."
(On Kaelia Frazier's first goal) "It was obviously a huge goal. We thought it might be a 1-0 game and getting that first goal is a key because both teams have stingy defenses. When she runs at defenders like that, she's pretty unstoppable sometimes."
(On the play of goalie Caitlin Scruggs) "She's done very, very well. She's sometimes looks a bit deceiving. She's a short goalkeeper but a great shot stopper."
(On advancing to the NCAA Tournament) "Everything now's a bonus. But I don't think there's anybody there to fear in the region. We've seen most of the teams. Anything can happen when you get there. We're not going there just to be happy, we're going to try to win. We're going to try and extend this ride as long as we can."
Tournament Most Valuable Player Catherine Hauck post-game interview video
Wingate Coach Gary Curneen
Post-game interview
video
"We got here with work ethic and determination and the effort
and today Lenoir-Rhyne just matched that. It was a great game, a
credit to them. I think they just edged us. It was a good
advertisement for the South Atlantic Conference."
"Goals change games at any level. They got theirs, and we didn't react well enough to them. We gave it a go, but it was too much work to do."
(On the 2010 season) "The girls have been fantastic and credit to them and hopefully we can learn from this year. They broke a lot of records this year and we wanted to come here and bring something back to show for our work. But I think they can look back and be very, very proud of what they've done and hopefully set ourselves a little higher target next year."
Wingate vs Lenoir-Rhyne (Nov 07, 2010 at Rock Hill, S.C.)
Wingate (13-3-3) vs. Lenoir-Rhyne (16-2-1)
Date: Nov 07, 2010 Attendance: 250
Weather: clear, low fifties, breezy
Goals by period 1 2 Tot
-------------------------------
Wingate............. 0 1 - 1
Lenoir-Rhyne........ 0 3 - 3
SCORING SUMMARY:
1. 54:27 LRU Kaelia Frazier (4) (unassisted) - Breakaway goal
after powering through two defenders.
2. 67:38 LRU Laura Linehan (6) (Elizabeth Hawes) - Chip shot off
the pass from the corner.
3. 69:19 LRU Audrey Moore (6) (Elizabeth Hawes) - Chip shot into
open goal following pass from the right side.
4. 71:40 WU Kelly Adams (5) (unassisted) - Off the deflected
keeper save.
Shots: Wingate 19, Lenoir-Rhyne 23
Saves: Wingate 5 (Miriam Boucher 5), Lenoir-Rhyne 7 (Caitlin
Scruggs 7)