Coastal women blank Francis Marion
August 21, 2012
<p>CONWAY – The Coastal Carolina women’s soccer team (1-1-0) notched a 3-0 shutout victory over Francis Marion (0-1-0) in the Chants’ home opener Sunday night at the CCU Soccer Field.</p>
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<p>Senior forward Anna Lowe, sophomore midfielder Rylie Johnson and sophomore Kacey Kelley scored the goals as the Chanticleers picked up their first victory over the Patriots in five meetings.</p>
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<p>Sophomore defender Maddie Phillips dished out two assists, while freshman midfielder Fia Jonsson had one. Junior goalkeeper Megan Spencer made four saves to record her first career shutout.</p>
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<p>“For us to play at Kentucky and then come back here two days later and play a tough Francis Marion team was a challenge,” head coach Paul Hogan said. “I was pleased our team met that challenge and was happy with their performance. There were some things we saw tonight that we didn’t see on Friday that we liked. We can build on this for sure.”</p>
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<p>Coming off a solid season-opening performance against Kentucky on Friday, the Chants controlled play throughout against Francis Marion, beginning right away with a shot by junior Christina Stern in the first minute that forced a diving save.</p>
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<p>Coastal found the back of the net twice in the opening half, both goals coming off of well-placed balls into the box in the air by Phillips. The first was on a corner kick, which Lowe headed into the right corner in the 16<sup>th</sup> minute. Ten minutes later, Phillips sent a free kick from 35 yards out into the middle and Johnson headed it over the leaping Francis Marion goalkeeper into the top of the net.</p>
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<p>“We talked before the game about being more aggressive and getting more corners,” Hogan said. “We scored our first goal off a corner and second off a set piece. We were aggressive and we used our height to win challenges in the air.”</p>
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<p>Kelley capped the scoring a little over six minutes into the second half. Jonsson sent a through-pass through the middle and Kelley put a quick shot off the drawn-out keeper and the ball took a high bounce forward into the goal.</p>
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<p>The Chants coasted from there, finishing the game with commanding advantages in shots (16-5) and corner kicks (10-3). Francis Marion was limited to just one shot in the second half.</p>
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<p>The Chanticleers return to action next Sunday at 2:30 p.m. against Western Michigan in the Coastal Carolina Soccer Classic. The first game of the tournament between Western Michigan and College of Charleston will be played on Friday at 5 p.m. at the CCU Soccer Field.</p>
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