Friday was a very long night, yet a good night for the Stetson women's soccer team. The Hatters opened up their Nashville trip with a double-overtime 1-0 win over Lipscomb University.
In a contest that could have ended as the most frustrating of the season for a team that has been waiting for its share of luck, Stetson came out on top. For the match, the visitors led the home team in shots by an astounding 34-11. Thirteen of the 17 Hatters who took the field had at least one shot. Senior Jennifer Hays (Jacksonville Beach, Fla.) led the team with six, followed by sophomore Heather Berg (Ft. Myers, Fla.) with five and senior Sarah Stock (Deltona, Fla.) with four.
“We missed some opportunities early inside the six which could have put the match out of reach”, said Hatters Head Coach Julie Orlowski. “Give Lipscomb credit. They are well coached and well organized.”
The match remained scoreless until late into the second overtime (108:53) when freshman Tessa Gavilsky (Granite City, Ill.) scored the golden goal. It was her second goal of the season and the second consecutive match in which she has found the net.
Starting the scoring play was junior forward Stephanie Webb (Portsmouth, England) who dug the ball out of the corner and delivered a cross into the box. Gavilsky picked up the pass, made a quick turn and finished. The ball just crossed the line before Lipscomb goalkeeper Katie Shelton could make the grab. Shelton had 13 saves on the night but was a little too late on the one that counted most.
Defensively Stetson's midfield and back four turned away a Lipscomb attack that managed 11 shots. Freshman goalkeeper Andrea Garavaglia made six saves en route to her second consecutive shutout (third of the season).
“Fortunately for us luck is starting to go our way”, said Orlowski. “In games like this we found ways to lose earlier in the season. Now we are finding ways to win them and that is exciting going into the most important time of the year.”
“We are looking forward to playing Belmont, one of the conference leaders, on Sunday. We can go a long way towards qualifying for the conference tournament by bringing home a good result”, she continued.
The Hatters are now 5-8-1 overall and 3-4-0 in A-Sun play... Lipscomb drops to 3-10-1 and 1-4-1. Stetson will take on Belmont at 12:30 p.m. on Sunday before returning home to finish the regular season by hosting USC Upstate, East Tennessee State, and Florida Gulf Coast.
