BUENA VISTA, VA. — After a nail-biting victory in penalty kicks against Brevard, the Southern Virginia University Women's Soccer team advanced to the conference semifinals and will take on Mary Baldwin University in Knight Stadium Thursday, November 3.
"We are grateful to advance to the semifinals and are getting ready to play a tough Mary Baldwin team that gave us all we could handle just a week ago," said Head Coach, Rob Dahl. "After two overtimes and a shoot-out, we are resting legs while trying to stay sharp and get ready to play well enough to advance one more time. We want to look at each game individually and focus on our next opponent completely. Mary Baldwin will have a good game plan implemented and be ready to execute come game time."
The Series:
The series in knotted at one as both teams meet for the third time in program history, and the second time this season, with the latest matchup coming last week resulting in a 2-1 victory for the Knights.
Makinna Winterton did not waste any time putting the pressure on Mary Baldwin, recording two shots in the first two minutes of the match. With the Squirrels on their heels, Lindsey Clausen spotted Matia Murray down the field, connecting a beautiful cross and Murray placing the ball in the bottom right corner of the goal to put the team up 1-0 early.
The Knights defense was solid throughout the entire first half, only allowing one shot that goalkeeper Alyssa Trueman was easily able to save.
At the halftime break, Southern Virginia outshot Mary Baldwin 11-1, heading into the locker room with the 1-0 advantage.
Eager to keep the momentum rolling into the second half, Makinna Winterton got a shot on goal just 40 seconds in, but Anyka Wilkin was there to make the save. Two minutes later in the 48th minute, Maybel Harris and Ella Thomas worked together to press the ball down the right side of the field, freeing up Thomas to cross the ball in front of the goal, with Makinna Winterton there to head the ball into the back of the net, putting the Knights up 2-0.
Mary Baldwin answered Southern Virginia's goal with one of their own, with Sara Gruntowicz crossing a ball to Quierra Hawkins, who managed to get the ball past Trueman pressing up the field to stop the run, scoring on an open net, and making the new score 2-1.
The Knights defense stepped up the remainder of the game, only allowing one more shot from the Squirrels that sailed far right of the goal, leading the team to a 2-1 victory over Mary Baldwin.
Impact Players:
With a large target on Makinna Winterton's back, her support staff of Matia Murray, Morgan Romney, and Lindsey Clausen will be ready to be in prime shooting position to receive Winterton's passes coming their way.
Coming off a historic game Tuesday night, Alyssa Trueman will be locked in to make the stops needed to give the offense more opportunities. Trueman only needed to make one save in Tuesday's victory thanks to her back line, led by Ella Thomas and Annalise Huber, not allowing any shots to be recorded in all of regulation and overtime.
Game Details:
The opening kick is set for 5:30 pm in Knight Stadium. For more updates and details on the women's soccer team, be sure to follow @knight_wsoc on Instagram and @knightwsoccer on Twitter and visit knightathletics.com for live stats and streaming options.
