With tonight's 3-2 overtime win over Florida Gulf Coast University the Stetson women's soccer team qualified for the Atlantic Sun Conference tournament. Coming into the game the Hatters needed a win or a tie. A loss would have allowed Gardner-Webb to sneak into the final spot in the six-team tournament.
Playoff implications aside, tonight's back and forth battle and the fact that is was “Senior Night” provided its own excitement. Just prior to the game six Hatter seniors were honored for their four years of dedication on the field, and in the classroom.
Stetson opened up the scoring early with a goal in the fifth minute. Senior Julianne Turnbull (DeLand, Fla.) launched a corner kick into the box that was picked up by senior Jennifer Hays (Jacksonville Beach, Fla.) who fed sophomore Emily Yero (Orlando, Fla.) for her fifth goal of the season.
After FGCU evened the score at 27:37, Stetson fired back four minutes later when Freshman Tessa Gavilsky scored her 5th goal of the season. The goal was set up after a turnaround feed by junior Stephanie Webb (Portsmouth, England); her third assist of 2007.
Another four minutes later the Eagled tied up the score once again on an impressive header by Amber McCall (Ft. Myers, Fla.). Stetson goalkeeper, freshman Andrea Garavaglia (Webster Groves, MO), never had a chance. That was all the scoring in regulation play as the second half was a defensive battle.
The scoring, however, was not complete. Just one minute and 48 seconds into overtime sophomore Emily Ware (St. Petersburg, FL) took a pass from Gavilsky and sent the ball into a group of players in the box. Senior forward Sarah Stock pounced on the ball and blasted the ball past a defenseless Kirsi Keenan (Boca Raton, Fla.) in the Eagles goal. The shot hit the back of the net and the Hatters celebrated their ticket to the tournament.
“It was really nice to see Sarah (Stock) end her home career with such a big goal”, said Hatters head coach Julie Orlowski. “She was unlucky earlier in the season and missed some of those opportunities, but not tonight”.
The Hatters will now enter the tournament as the # 5 seed and take on East Tennessee State. On the season Stetson raised its record to 8-9-1 and 6-5-0 in A-Sun play. The Eagles dropped to 11-7-0 and 7-4-0.
