Women's Soccer Dominates in 7-1 Rout of USC Upstate

Friday, October 19

Jacksonville, Fla.

7 p.m.

University of North Florida

-782, 521 ASun

USC Upstate

-3140, 170 ASun

USC Upstate

North Florida

Photo by: Todd Drexler

10/19/2012 9:36:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Box Score

By: UNF Athletics

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The University of North Florida women's soccer team got goals from five different players on Friday night on its way to a 7-1 rout of USC Upstate at Hodges Stadium on Friday night.

“This was just one of those nights where a lot of hard work kind of comes together,” Head Coach Linda Hamilton said. “I'm very proud of how we played tonight.”

With seeding for the Atlantic Sun Tournament on the line, the Ospreys pressed forward early and often. Senior Michele Larrinaga opened the scoring in just the 12th minute. After dribbling into the box and firing a shot off the right post, Larrinaga collected her own rebound and easily deposited a shot into the empty net for her fourth goal of the year.

Just 46 seconds later, junior Thea Linkfield doubled UNF's advantage with a top-class goal. After intercepting a Spartan pass in the offensive end, Linkfield dribbled to the top-right corner of the box, paused and bent a 25-yard shot to the far post that dipped just inside the upper-left corner of the goal to put the Ospreys up 2-0.

Roughly 20 minutes later, UNF scored two more goals in quick succession. In the 32nd minute, three Ospreys fired shots within the span of six seconds. While shots from junior forward Lauren Hopfensperger and sophomore Alexandra Herman were saved, sophomore forward Kathryn Shafer was able to finish the third chance to notch her first goal of the season.

Shafer had a hand in the Ospreys' fourth goal just five minutes later when she was dragged down on a run through the box, earning a penalty. Hopfensperger stepped to the spot and calmly fired the penalty kick to the right of the goalkeeper to put UNF up 4-0 before halftime.

At the break, the Ospreys had tallied a staggering 20 shots, including 12 on goal, while the UNF defense had held the Upstate offense to just a single shot on goal. UNF had also taken five corner kicks to the Spartans' none.

Sophomore midfielder Alexi Zaremba tallied her first collegiate goal in the 66th minute, putting a cross from junior midfielder Kathleen Murphy into the net to make the lead 5-0.

In the 69th minute, the Spartans pulled one back, as Rebecca Sanzsole took a long pass from Samantha Seelinger and found the net to cut the trim the deficit to 5-1, but Upstate would get no closer.

Less than a minute later Zaremba grabbed her second goal of the night, volleying in a 15-yard shot off a pass from freshman Dana Pistey with the side of her foot. It was Pistey's first collegiate assist.

In the 89th minute, Larrinaga put the finishing touch on the rout, running onto a long ball out of the back, dribbling from midfield and beating Upstate goalkeeper Sarah Plantz one-on-one to cap the scoring at 7-1 with her second goal of the evening and fifth of the year.

The Ospreys' seven goals are the most UNF has scored in a match since a 13-0 victory over Alabama State on Sept. 2, 2007. UNF finished the match with 32 shots (17 on goal) to Upstate's seven. Sophomore goalkeeper Rachel Beninati recorded five saves for the Ospreys on the evening.

With the win, UNF moves to 5-2-1 in A-Sun play and 7-8-2 overall. Upstate falls to 3-14, 1-7 in the A-Sun. Heading to the last game of the season, the Ospreys are still capable of finishing as high as second in the conference, depending on Sunday's matches.

The Ospreys will conclude their 2012 regular season on Sunday afternoon when they welcome East Tennessee State to Hodges Stadium for a 1 p.m. tilt. The team will recognize its seniors in a small ceremony prior to the match.

Live stats will be available on UNFOspreys.com and live streaming can be found via ASun.tv.