NEWS

 

DAVIDSON – The Davidson women’s soccer team was narrowly edged 1-0 in its home opener by UNC Asheville Thursday at Alumni Stadium.

With the loss, the Wildcats’ record moves to 1-2 overall to start the year while the Bulldogs improve to 2-1 on the season.

Nao Kawasaki was the difference maker for UNC Asheville, scoring just the Bulldogs’ second goal of the year and her first of the season in the 21st minute on a lead pass by Jasmine Barry.

The Bulldogs’ early score proved to be enough as they maintained their lead into break with the Wildcats taking two shots throughout the first 45 minutes.

Coming out of the break, an intense defensive battle ensued as teams traded shots to the tune of four for Davidson and three for UNC Asheville over the final half of play.

The Cats’ best look at knotting the score came in the waning moments of the second half when Brooke Ditcham served a ball on a free kick, but the service was not able to be converted on as the final buzzer sounded.

Davidson goalkeeper Emily Smith made one save while Aleia Gisolfi-McCready had two shots. Ditcham, Ellori Crosby, Brooke Roumy and Riley Patton each tallied one shot apiece, with Patton landing her attempt on goal.

Both teams ended the contest with six shots each in addition to UNC Asheville leading in shots on goal (2-1) and Davidson holding an advantage in corner kick attempts (4-3).

See our News of Davidson photo album from the game.

SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Davidson College women’s soccer team defeated Wofford 2-0 on the road Sunday in a non-conference match.

The bounce-back win pulled the Wildcats’ record to an even 2-2, while the Terriers moved to 1-3.

“I am really happy with the result of today,” said coach Riley Piechnick. “Overall, I thought we were organized defensively and connected well to put the ball in dangerous areas. Emily Smith had another strong performance in-net, and Aleia Gisolfi-McCready showed great composure to tuck her opportunity away in the second half. We made a lot of substitutions, and people came off the bench with energy and ready to contribute to the win!”

The win featured Gisolfi-McCready netting her second goal of the season and Brooke Ditcham forcing the Wofford goalkeeper into an own goal via a nicely placed corner kick.

Gisolfi-McCready paced the Davidson offense with three shots, one of which was on target. Annaliese Mann (three) and SJ Pak (two) also tallied multi-shot games. Ella Barnes, Madison Hairston, Alli Jacobson, Katie McCormack, Savannah Pruitt, Brooke Roumy and Katy Talotta all aided in a prominent offensive attack with one shot apiece.

Smith posted a stellar appearance in-goal for the Wildcats as she tallied a season-high seven saves over 90 minutes on the way to her second shutout of the year and the third of her career.

Davidson scattered eight shots over the first half of competition, forcing Terrier starting goalkeeper Caroline Doss to make two saves in order to maintain a 0-0 score heading into the halftime break.

Entering the 12th minute of the second half, Gisolfi-McCready opened Davidson’s scoring when she gained space on her defender and threaded a shot right through the outstretched hands of Rylee Godbold, who checked into goal to start the second half, giving the ‘Cats a 1-0 edge.

Less than five minutes later, Davidson was awarded a corner kick which Ditcham landed in such a way it ricocheted off Godbold and into the net, extending the Wildcats’ lead to 2-0. Smith secured the shutout by successfully keeping Wofford’s final two shot-on-goal attempts on the way to a ‘Cats 2-0 shutout.

For the game, Davidson held advantages in shots (15-10) and corner kicks (5-4) while Wofford led in shots-on-goal (7-5).

UP NEXT
The Wildcats return to Alumni Stadium Aug. 31 to host Charleston Southern at 7 p.m.