(Story courtesy of Southwestern University)
GEORGETOWN, Texas - Two goals in the opening seven minutes of the match were gold for Austin College as they defeated Centenary College 2-0 in the opening match of the SCAC Championship. Box Score | Bracket | Official Website
Centenary had the first two strong looks of the game, aggressively attacking the 'Roos' goal, but it was Austin College who got the first shot off of the match that resulted in the first goal of the game. Ariel Marder played the ball to the left of the goal who passed the ball on the ground to Tyler Marquez who was wide open in front of the goal. Marquez placed the ball perfectly into the left of the net for the 1-0 lead.
Just one minute later, Austin College added their second goal as Marder found Sydney Redding who headed the ball home for the 2-0 lead with only seven minutes played in the match.
Marder took a shot of her own from 23 yards out dead center of the goal and seemed to be the third goal of the game as it blazed over Centenary's keeper Brittaney Dunn, but the ball hit just enough of the bottom side of the crossbar to bounce straight down just in front of the goal line, allowing Dunn to snag the ball.
With just a few strong looks at goal on both sides of the field the half came to a close with Austin College up 2-0.
Both teams took a much more aggressive tone as the second half got underway. AC got a great look as Ali Fidel broke free from the backline and blazed toward goal with a Centenary defender on her hip. She got one final touch on the ball just before Dunn reached her and it glanced off the right post back to Fidel. Fidel got another shot off that sailed high and out of the danger zone for the Ladies.
Centenary had an opportunity to close the gap with a foul 25 yards in front of the goal, but Traci Lee's shot drifted high of the goal. The Ladies had another chance at the same distance on the left of the goal and once again Lee's shot went over the crossbar.
Austin College led the shot count 20-4 while Centenary had the only corner kick of the night. Dunn posted four saves in 77 minutes of action in goal for the Ladies while back-up keeper Lauren Cullen recorded two saves. AC's Franchesca Lozoya had two saves on the evening.
Austin College improves to 6-11-2 on the year and advances to face #1 seed Trinity on Saturday at 5 p.m. Centenary closes their season with a 5-10-1 overall record.
