HICKORY, N.C. - Despite taking a 1-0 lead into the halftime break, Anderson University women's soccer was unable to fend off top-seeded Lenoir-Rhyne as its season came to close, falling 3-1 in the quarterfinals of the South Atlantic Conference Tournament Tuesday evening at Mortez Sports - Athletic Complex.
With the setback, the Trojans end their season with a 7-10-1
overall record and drop their third SAC Tournament match in a row.
The Bears advance to Friday's semifinal where they will square off
against fourth-seeded Catawba at 4 p.m.
"Being in the quarterfinals was an achievement on itself," Anderson
head coach Ciaran Traquair said. "In the end, it was just too big
of task to match them and we were spent by the end. The future is
very bright and with this group, it is only the beginning."
After a scoreless 29 minutes to open the match, Anderson's Emily
Cowan broke the goalless stretch as she notched her second goal of
the season and handed the Trojans a 1-0 lead. With the goal in
hand, AU maintained its lead for the remainder of the period and
took the one-goal advantage into the halftime break.
"I'm immensely proud of how we approached the game and being up 1-0
at halftime," Traquair said. "We certainly gave them a scare."
Facing the deficit, the Bears responded in the 52nd minute when Amber Madriaga found a cross from Dylan Bedell and scored past Anderson goalkeeper Sadie Lancaster for L-R's first goal of the postseason. The goal was Madriaga's second of the season.
Moments later, Lenoir-Rhyne received its eventual game-winner in the 59th minute when Madriaga struck again with a 25-yard blast from the left side for the goal. The tally marked her first match this season with multiple goals.
Lenoir-Rhyne added an insurance goal in the 84th minute of play when Dylan Bedell got behind the Anderson backline on a breakaway and slid a shot past Lancaster to close the match's scoring. The goal was Bedell's second tally of the year.
The Trojans totaled seven shots for the evening as junior Mariana Poveda was the lone AU player with multiple shots with two. Joining Cowan with one shot was Faith Johannes, Paige Gowans-Smith, Abbey Mills and Jaclyn Kubiak. Defensively, Lancaster closed the contest with 10 saves, marking the second time this season she has posted double-digit saves.
On the opposite side, Lenoir-Rhyne totaled 28 shots for the match, including 18 in the final 45 minutes. Midfielder Casey Marlin paced the Bear attack with six shots, while six different L-R players recorded three shots. Goalkeeper Alayna Morris, who earned the win, made three saves.
The seven-win season marks the second highest win total since the Trojans joined the SAC before the 2010 season. AU improved on its win total of five from the 2013 season.
