Box Score
ABILENE –
Andrea Carpenter's overtime goal in the 94th minute provided the Abilene Christian women's soccer team a 2-1 victory over Dallas Baptist in the season opener for both teams Thursday evening at the Wildcat Soccer Pitch.
Carpenter's first goal of the year was the 22nd of her career as the sophomore keeps herself atop the Wildcat records book in both points (48) and goals scored. Her eighth career game-winning shot was assisted by
Krysta Grimm, who laid the ball perfectly at Carpenter's feet on a diagonal from the far side.
“We were on the counter attack and pressed them into a turnover, which Krysta (Grimm) picked up,” head coach
Casey Wilson said. “She then played a great ball to Andrea's feet, and whenever you give her space, she's going to make the most of that opportunity.”
Carpenter's heroics spoiled an overall solid effort by Patriot goalkeeper Kerry Edwards, who was saddled with the loss despite making 10 quality saves on a night in which she faced 21 shots – including 11 in the first half. Twice she stopped shots by Grimm and
Ashley Holton, and four times she denied
Julie Coppedge. But only after the Wildcat junior sailed one over her first in the 14th minute.
“Dallas Baptist gave us a tough game and I give a lot of credit to them,” said Wilson. “Their goalkeeper played tremendously, catching a lot of balls and hardly mishandled any shots. She did a good job of keeping them in the game.”
Coppedge's goal, ACU's first of 2011 and the 10th of her career, was scored off
Lexi Stirling's corner kick from the near side. Stirling's kick was headed out of the box by one of the Patriot defenders, but the ball rolled right to Coppedge who one timed it into the upper right corner and past the outreached arms of Edwards.
“Any time you can score on a set piece, it's a huge boost for the team,” said Wilson. “Julie was certainly at the right place and right time, but any time we can get her the ball at that spot she's going to score.”
The Wildcat lead remained at 1-0 until the 73rd minute when Hope Adams combined with Courtney Baxter on the equalizer. Adams held the ball on the near side before threading it into traffic 10-yards in front of the goal line, from where Baxter fired a missile past ACU goalkeeper
Arielle Moncure.
Moncure, who fended off seven additional second-half shots, remained in the game past regulation to score the win, making four stops through 48 minutes.
Elliott London started for ACU and was credited with two saves against Patriot attacker Brittany Layne.
ACU's defense held DBU to 10 shots as both sides recorded four corner kicks. Coppedge led all players with seven shots, including five on goal.
“All in all I think we played well and did a lot of things right,” summarized Wilson, “but there are still some things we need to improve on and we'll use this game as a learning experience. Mostly I think we need to get our stamina back, our game legs still aren't there yet.”
ACU returns to action Sunday for a 1 p.m. home match against A&M-International.
Dallas Baptist (0-1) vs. Abilene Christian (1-0)
Date: Sep 01, 2011
Attendance: 100
Weather: 98, Sunny
Goals by period 1 2 OT Tot
Dallas Baptist...... 0 1 0 - 1
Abilene Christian... 1 0 1 - 2
SCORING SUMMARY:
1. 13:47 ACU
Julie Coppedge (1) (
Lexi Stirling) – Off corner kick, ball redirected by defender and kicked into top corner by Coppedge
2. 72:38 DBU Courtney Baxter (1) (Hope Adams) - past GKs right taken from straight away, assist from near side
3. 93:15 ACU
Andrea Carpenter (1) (
Krysta Grimm) - numbers down far side and crossed over to left and one timed in.
Shots: Dallas Baptist 10, Abilene Christian 21
Saves: Dallas Baptist 10 (Kerry Edwards 10), Abilene Christian 6
(
Arielle Moncure 4;
Elliott London 2)
