Oct. 16, 2009

Final Stats

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - This week's Atlantic Sun Game of the Week lived up to its hype on Friday afternoon at the Whitten Soccer Complex. In the end, the Belmont women's soccer team (8-5-2, 5-1-1 A-Sun) came out ahead of Florida Gulf Coast (8-5-3, 3-2-2 A-Sun), who was ranked third in the conference before today's game. The Bruins snapped a two-game win streak for the Eagles and picked up their sixth shutout of the season with the 2-0 victory.

The early part of the first half looked to be a shootout between the teams as they combined for nine shots. In the 24th minute senior Annie Musacchio (Nashville, Tenn.) had a wide open shot at the net but FGCU goalkeeper Stephanie Powers was able to come away with the save. FGCU turned up the offensive heat in the 35th minute, logging back-to-back shots by Ashley Ciesielczyk and Jess Swartzentruber keeping Bruin netminder sophomore Sari Lin (Carefree, Ariz.) on her toes. The Eagles earned a corner kick but was not able to get the ball past Belmont's strong defensive line. Eight minutes later, the Eagles rallied again with three consecutive stops but Lin was able to bat two of the attempts up and over the net for saves.

After the break, BU seemed to turn into a completely different squad, playing even more aggressively on both sides of the ball. At the 52:31 mark, passes from senior Elizabeth Bublis (Norman, Okla.) and sophomore Gretchen Sutch (Knoxville, Tenn.) aided junior Erica Carter (Spring, Texas) in notching the first goal of the game. The goal cranked up Belmont's energy another level and the team clamped down on FGCU defensively, locking them deep in their own territory for long stretches of time. In the 76th minute, Amber McCall sent the ball screaming towards the BU net but Lin was able to get a hand on it to keep the Eagles off the board. A free kick by junior Jessica Rix (Carmel, Ind.) in the 81st minute opened the door for the insurance goal by Carter. FGCU put fresh legs into the game but it was too little too late as Belmont was able to hold on for the 2-0 victory.

FGCU held the advantage in shots, 17-8, but the teams were tied in corner kicks with two apiece. Lin went the distance inside the net, finishing with a season-high 12 saves, the second most ever in her career.

Sophomore Jamie Loftis (Hermitage, Tenn.) and Carter led the Bruins offensively, recording two shots each. Bublis, Musacchio, junior Jayme Trocino (Franklin, Tenn.), and rookie Lauren Paynter (Danville, Ky.) each added one shot on the day.

"This was a great win for us and thankfully, Sari was able to keep us in the game long enough for us to get our first goal," said Head Coach Lisa Howe. "We were just a different team in the second half. In the second half, our forwards were different people! They were great, especially Erica Carter, Jamie Loftis and Elizabeth Bublis."

Belmont will host Stetson on Sunday afternoon at Whitten Soccer Complex to wrap the 2009 regular season at home. Match time is slated for 12:15 pm and the game will be available on GameTracker. Prior to kickoff the Bruins will take time to honor their seniors - Elizabeth Bublis, Alex Mindel, Annie Musacchio and Renee Pilch.