Clarksville, TN – After going scoreless in two exhibition games and the season-opener at Evansville, Austin Peay State University women’s soccer team got on the board in a big way with a 5-2 win against Chattanooga in Sunday’s home opener.
“Scoring five goals in a game is a pretty good day offensively,” said head coach Kelley Guth. “We’ve got some young players playing up top that we have to rely on to be those types of offensive-minded players for us.”
Austin Peay got on the board first thanks to senior Claire Pultz, who lofted a shot over the head of Natalie Irwin, playing out of position in net after Chattanooga lost its starter and backup earlier this weekend. The goal was Pultz’s first since her freshman season in an August 21st, 2011 contest against Chattanooga.
Chattanooga’s Crystal Mackezyk would answer less than two minutes later with a header from a Brandy Herrera corner kick, and then put the Mocs ahead with a 23rd-minute tally.
Monger found her stride in the 33rd minute, gathering a pass from Alyssa Plowman and depositing it into the lower-right corner from outside the 18-yard box to knot the game at two.
In the 37th minute, Monger was dragged down in the box and awarded a penalty kick. She took it herself and put it away to the left side to give Austin Peay a lead the Lady Govs would not relinquish.
Austin Peay was relentless on the attack against the Mocs. The Lady Govs attempted 25 shots, compared to just 10 attempts by Chattanooga. Monger and sophomore Gina Fabbro each attempted a team-high five shots.
In the second half, a pair of Austin Peay freshmen would help put the game out of reach. In the 80th minute, Pultz played in a long ball to Caroline Wistrom, who tapped it by the keeper caught up in a congested net. Two minutes later, Kirstin Robertson fired home a rocket for the final tally of the day following a solid bit of passing from freshman Sophia Fabbro.
“We’ve got a lot of new faces getting playing time,” Guth said. “We’re still developing the chemistry we need. It’ll get better, and I think today was the first indicator of that.”
The Lady Govs hit the books Monday as the fall semester gets underway at Austin Peay. Austin Peay returns to action 7:00pm, Friday with a battle against SEC foe Alabama at Morgan Brothers Field.
Photo Gallery
Video
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EeMApowxFBY[/youtube]
Box Score
| Goals By Period | 1 | 2 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chattanooga Mocs | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Austin Peay Lady Govs | 3 | 2 | 5 |
| Goal | Time | Team | Goal Scorer | Assists | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 08:23 | APSU | Claire Pultz (1) | Lob over keeper head from outside 18 | |
| 2. | 09:56 | UTC | Crystal MacKezyk (2) | Brandy Herrera | Header off corner |
| 3. | 22:20 | UTC | Crystal MacKezyk (0) | Logan Higgins | |
| 4. | 32:54 | APSU | Merritt Monger (11) | Alyssa Plowman | Lower right corner from outside the 18 |
| 5. | 36:00 | APSU | Merritt Monger () | APSU Merritt Monger PENALTY KICK GOAL, goal number for season. | |
| 6. | 79:51 | APSU | Caroline Wistrom (1) | Claire Pultz | GOAL by APSU Caroline Wistrom, Assist by Claire Pultz, goal number 1 for season. |
| 7. | 81:22 | APSU | Kirstin Robertson (11) | Sophia Fabbro |
Chattanooga
| ## | Goalie | Minutes | GA | Saves |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 | Natalie Irwin | 90:00 | 5 | 10 |
| Pos | ## | Player | Sh | SOG | G | A | Fouls | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| D | 6 | Elena Sanchez | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 9 | Crystal MacKezyk | 5 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | ||
| D | 12 | Sarah Ghale | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| F | 13 | Amanda Ortiz | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 15 | Clare Latham | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| D | 17 | Emily Moseley | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| D | 19 | Hailey Callis | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 20 | Natalie Irwin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 22 | Samantha Hogan | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| D | 25 | Ashley Simmons | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 27 | Brandy Herrera | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||
| –Substitutes– | ||||||||
| TM | TEAM | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | ||
| D | 2 | Allie Sullivan | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 3 | Abby Linder | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| F | 4 | Melanie Arredondo | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 5 | Skylar Brewer | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| D | 7 | Logan Higgins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| F | 11 | Mckenzie Gregg | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 18 | Taylor Pannell | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 21 | Micalah Crafton | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| D | 24 | Alanna Warrick | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Totals | 10 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 13 | |||
Austin Peay
| ## | Goalie | Minutes | GA | Saves |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nikki Filippone | 45:00 | 0 | 4 |
| 11 | Lindsey Todd | 45:00 | 2 | 1 |
| Pos | ## | Player | Sh | SOG | G | A | Fouls | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Natalie Smith | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 3 | Kirstin Robertson | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 4 | Gina Fabbro | 5 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 6 | Mary Ruth Locastro | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 8 | Mallory Burman | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 9 | Brianna Avitabile | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 11 | Lindsey Todd | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 12 | Claire Pultz | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | ||
| 14 | Frankie Carbajal | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 17 | Taylor Van Wagner | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 22 | Sophia Fabbro | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||
| –Substitutes– | ||||||||
| TM | TEAM | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | ||
| 1 | Nikki Filippone | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 5 | Caroline Wistrom | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 15 | Alyssa Plowman | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||
| 20 | Maggie Ethridge | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 23 | Merritt Monger | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Totals | 25 | 15 | 5 | 3 | 13 | |||
