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CLEVELAND, Tenn. – Seventh-seeded Mississippi College scored the only goal of the game in the 13th minute (13:06) and played solid defense the rest of the evening in handing second-seeded Lee University a 1-0 defeat at the Ray Conn Sports Complex on a cool and foggy Saturday evening. The loss dropped the Lady Flames to 11-4-3 overall and the Choctaws improved to 9-8-3.
Mississippi College advances to the semifinals of the GSC Championship in Huntsville, Ala. while Lee will wait and see if they receive an at-large berth when the South Region pairings are announced next week. The winner of the GSC Championship receives an automatic bid to the South Region.
The goal by the Choctaws was scored by Vail Wartes. She was assisted by Charlie Cooper. The Lee defense only allowed Mississippi College four shots the entire contest and three were on goal. Lady Flames’ keeper Abby Whitcomb was credited with two saves but took the loss.
Lee fired 12 shots and had four on target. Three of the shots were taken when the Lady Flames battled hard to tie the contest in the final eight minutes. Whitney Carrigan had her shot saved by Choctaw keeper Celine Grothe in the 82nd minute (82:03).
At the 82:41 mark, Madleen Franz ripped another shot that was saved by Grothe. In the 84th minute (84:53), Avery Sides’ shot hit the bar and bounced away. Finally, Franz tried again with what looked like a tying score in the 86th minute (86:08) but again the Choctaw keeper was there for the save. Grace Berry had Lee’s only other shot on goal. Grothe was credited with four saves and got the victory.
Lee worked for five corner kicks, one in the first half and four in the second. The Choctaws had a corner kick in the first half and two in the second 45 minutes. There was a total of 24 fouls called in the hard-fought game, 12 against each team. There were no yellow cards issued.
Coach Lee Hughes’ thoughts:
“All credit goes to Mississippi College. They played a very good game against us. Honestly, it is the first game all year that we haven’t showed up and that was disappointing. We will regroup and will use this as an opportunity to grow as we look to get ready for the first round of the NCAAs.”
