GREENSBORO, NC – UNC Greensboro scored twice in the final 20 minutes to defeat Davidson, 2-0, and grab a hold of first place in the Southern Conference women's soccer standings on Thursday night at UNCG Soccer Stadium.
UNCG, 12-4-1 and 8-1-1 in the SoCon, finishes its regular season at The Citadel (2-13-1, 0-8-1 SoCon) on Sunday at 1 p.m. A UNCG win would give the Spartans the SoCon regular season title. Furman trails UNCG by four points entering its game on Friday at Western Carolina. If UNCG would falter on Sunday, either Furman or Davidson (10-7-1, 7-2-1 for 22 pts.) could still catch the Spartans. Davidson closes out the regular season at College of Charleston. The Southern Conference Tournament, featuring the top eight teams, will be played at UNCG Soccer Stadium beginning next Thursday.
Against Davidson, two UNCG senior playing in their final regular season home game got the scoring started at the 70:23 mark. Rakel Logadottir hit a corner kick low along the end line into a crowd. Jaime Ableman got just enough of a tip to knock the ball into the net for her first goal of the season and a 1-0 Spartan lead.
Then, with 3:45 to play, UNCG put the game away when Logadottir intercepted a Davidson clearing attempt and chipped it back into the box. Deven Beachum gathered it and blasted the ball into the goal from 15 yards out. Beachum, a redshirt sophomore from Raleigh, NC, has seven points in the last three games (3g, 2a) and is tied for the team-lead in goals with 10. For Logadottir, it was her second assist of the night and extended her career school record to 42 assists.
“Jaime epitomizes what a student-athlete should be. It was great to see Jaime and Rakel get involved in both goals tonight,” said UNCG coach Eddie Radwanski. “It wasn't our best game of the year, but we found a way to win. I told the team to be patient at the half and the goals would come ... and they did.”
Davidson had its best chance of the night midway through the second half. With 24:09 to play, the ball was loose in the box and UNCG keeper Jennifer Stillman gambled in trying to gather the loose ball. Davidson's Jenny Soldano gathered a deflection out of the pack and had an open shot from 10 yards out. However, Meredith Paisley knocked the ball down just before the goal line and cleared it out of the box.
Stillman recorded three saves for UNCG, which is now unbeaten in its last eight games. It was Stillman's fifth solo shutout of the season. Sarah Hobart recorded six saves for Davidson.
AGATE
Davidson............ 0 0 - 0
UNCG................ 0 2 - 2
SCORING SUMMARY: UNCG Jaime Ableman (Rakel Logadottir), 70:23; UNCG Deven Beachum (Rakel Logadottir), 86:15. Shots: Davidson 6, UNCG 11. Saves: Davidson 6 (Sarah Hobart 6), UNCG 4 (Jennifer Stillman 3; TEAM 1). Corner kicks: Davidson 3, UNCG 1. Fouls: Davidson 7, UNCG 14. Offsides: Davidson 3, UNCG 1.
- UNCG -
