Women's Soccer Downs Stetson, Earns Share of First Place

Sunday, October 7

Jacksonville, Fla.

1 p.m.

University of North Florida

-662, 401 ASun

Stetson

-3101, 141 ASun

Stetson

North Florida

Photo by: Todd Drexler

10/7/2012 3:43:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Box Score

By: UNF Athletics

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The University of North Florida scored two first-half goals and held off Stetson to grab a 2-1 victory at Hodges Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

The victory, which marked UNF's fifth consecutive match without a loss, propelled the Ospreys into a first-place tie in the Atlantic Sun Conference at 13 points with Florida Gulf Coast, who the Ospreys defeated on Friday night. The Eagles have also played one more match than UNF.

“I'm very happy to grab a win against a Stetson team that played us really tough today,” Head Coach Linda Hamilton said. “Sunday games are always tough, especially coming off a big win like Friday's, so we knew it'd be a difficult game.”

The Ospreys began the game dominant on the offensive end, accumulating multiple chances and spending the entirety of the match's first five minutes on the Stetson half of the field.

Junior midfielder Thea Linkfield made the hard work pay off when she opened the scoring in the eighth minute. After fielding a cross on the left edge of the box, Linkfield dribbled around a defender and fired a shot across the goal from a tight angle that buried itself in the side netting to put the Ospreys up 1-0. It was the junior's fifth goal of the season, tied for the team lead.

In the 22nd minute, junior forward Lauren Hopfensperger doubled UNF's lead with her third goal of the season. After springing free on a breakaway down the right side, she dribbled in from the corner before slamming a shot just inside the near post to put the Ospreys up 2-0.

The Hatters were able to get one back just seven minutes later off a deflection. After another Stetson attempt had been blocked, Mara Keomanivane latched onto the rebound, took a dribble and fired a shot to the far post that cut the UNF lead to 2-1.

The Ospreys went into halftime with a 9-5 advantage in shots and having tallied five corner kicks to Stetson's two.

After the harrowing pace of the opening 30 minutes, the remainder of the game was slower and more cautious. After halftime, the teams combined to put just six shots on goal and the Ospreys won the only corner kick of the second period.

With Hopfensperger's game-winner, she becomes the sixth different Osprey in six victories to notch a game-winning goal .

Senior goalkeeper Brittany Hahn notched six saves for UNF on the day, while Victoria Troccoli made five saves for the Hatters.

“This was a big win for us,” Hamilton said. “We're trying to earn enough points to put ourselves in position for the tournament, so we know we have a lot of hard work ahead of us.”

The Ospreys are on the road next weekend as they face Kennesaw State on Fri. Oct. 12 in a 7 p.m. match on the Owls' home field. Live stats will be available, or follow the action on Twitter (@OspreyWSOC).