University of North Florida
Florida Gulf Coast
FGCU Escapes UNF with 2-1 Women's Soccer Victory
9/19/2010 3:31:19 PM | Women's Soccer
Final Boxscore
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The University of North Florida women's soccer team staged a strong second half charge but could not overcome a sluggish first half performance in a 2-1 loss Sunday afternoon against Florida Gulf Coast at Hodges Stadium.
With the loss, UNF slips to 2-7-0 (1-1-0 A-Sun) with each of its last eight matches decided by a single goal. FGCU moves to 4-4-1 overall and 1-0-1 in conference play.
“I was proud of our effort and thought we played a strong second half,” said UNF head coach Linda Hamilton. “Unfortunately, we dug ourselves an early hole against a good Florida Gulf Coast squad and couldn't get the equalizing goal. We have to play better on defense and limit the number of soft goals we have allowed. We have to keep working to put two good halves of soccer together.”
The Eagles got on the board first netting the first goal without even recording an official shot attempt. Katie Correllus converted a penalty kick in the 17th minute (16:43) after FGCU striker Jenci Villaverde was taken down in the box by a UNF defender.
The two squads spent much of the remainder of the first half in the middle third of the field. Florida Gulf Coast wasted little time expanding its lead scoring its second goal of the day just over two minutes into second half action.
Caytlan MacKenzie lined a corner kick to the far post where teammate Ashley Ciesielczyk found some open space slotting the ball past the UNF goalkeeper for the 2-0 advantage.
From that point, the Ospreys turned up the pressure on the offensive end putting together several solid scoring runs. Freshman Carolina Lencina finally helped UNF cut into the deficit finishing an outstanding individual effort with a goal at the 79:05 mark. Lencina dribbled into the box averting several FGCU defenders before lifting a shot into the far corner for her team-leading third goal of the season.
North Florida kept the pressure on but was not able to score the equalizing goal in the final ten minutes of action. Lencina led all players with three shots on the day.
The Ospreys will have the week off from competition before returning to action next weekend with a pair of Atlantic Sun Conference road games at Mercer (Sept. 24) and Kennesaw State (Sept. 26).
