Oct. 13, 2008

The Southwestern women's soccer team continued its dominating play in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference this weekend, rolling past University of the South - Sewanee and Oglethorpe University with wins of 3-1 and 3-0.

Arriving in Georgetown still confident from a 3-0 shutout against twelfth-ranked Rhodes, who handed Southwestern their only SCAC loss, Sewanee looked to repeat and establish themselves as a contender for the conference title. In the first half, the Tigers took advantage of winds blowing directly into the Pirate goal but found themselves unable to penetrate the defensive line of Sarah Holifield, Madi Stachura and Berkeley Mengwasser, who held their opponents to only two out of twelve shots on target. 

With the winds to their advantage in the second half, the Pirates only needed four minutes to score, with A.J. Andreola finding Danielle Madison on a short pass that was put into the lower left net. Sewanee's Elizabeth Constantine would even the score four minutes later off a well-played corner kick, but the Bucs responded with the game-winner with a solo long shot from outside the goal box by Casey Grier. Grier also picked up an assist in the 89th minute, sending the ball to Laura Kromann directly in front of the net where it was quickly sent past the keeper for the midfielder's first goal of the season.

Sunday's game against Oglethorpe began much like Sewanee's, with strong winds again working against the Pirates. The first half again remained scoreless, despite an overwhelming series of 18 shots by Southwestern. Again, A.J. Andreola opened up the scoring for the Bucs, taking a long shot in the 47th minute that ended up just out of reach of Petrels goalkeeper Sarah Nania. Andreola would score twice more, converting a Lauren Kjolhede corner kick in the 51st minute into a header, followed by a rebound strike from a keeper fumble at 59:32. The hat trick, a career first for Andreola, is also the first for the team this season.

The wins boosted the Pirates' record to 9-2-1 (5-1 SCAC) and maintains them in a second-place tie with Trinity and Centre in conference standings. The team will return to play on Friday, October 17, taking on Hardin-Simmons in Abilene at 2:00.

Box score - SU vs. Sewanee (Oct. 10)
Box score - SU vs. Oglethorpe (Oct. 12)

Photo credit: Gary Kromann