Charleston, S.C. - Shannon Wratchford and
Jessica Donald both netted goals as Campbell defeated Charleston Southern 2-1 Wednesday at the CSU Soccer Stadium.
Campbell (4-7-1, 3-1-1 Big South) has now strung together four straight unbeaten matches beginning on September 22 with a win at UNC Asheville.
Wratchford opened the scoring on the day in the 29
th minute after avoiding a Buccaneer defender from 23 yards out where she fired from the left side to the top back right corner of the net over the leaping CSU keeper. The senior's score marked her second of the season after she scored a diving header in the season opener against South Carolina State.
Donald closed the Campbell scoring line in the 59
th minute after
Rosie O'Neal crossed the ball from the left side to Donald in the box who, from the right side, chipped the shot over the Buccaneer goal keeper to the left side of the goal. The freshman's goal marked her second in two matches after she headed in a goal Saturday against Winthrop. It also marks Donald's fifth point over the two match stretch as she also found
Alexa Genas for a score on Saturday.
Charleston Southern was able to get on the scoreboard late after a foul in the box forced a penalty kick. Sidney Doherty netted her second goal in two games after finishing the shot in the 90
th minute.
Despite Campbell's second straight win, head coach
Samar Azem thinks there is still room for improvement. "Today wasn't our best overall performance. We didn't take care of the ball well enough and that's a part of our game we want to enhance. We also want to ensure that we take care of the clock too. We can't give teams opportunities in the box and giving up the penalty kick with 15 seconds left is something we will also grow from."
Campbell fired off just four shots on goal for the match but was able to connect of half of their tries which turned out to be the difference on the day. Charleston Southern (5-3-2, 2-2-1 Big South) was also able to place four shots on frame but only converted one time in the closing minute.
Azem continued, "With that said, I'm proud of the girls. It's great to bring three points back home. We have taken every opportunity and learned from it. Our younger players have grown tremendously and Jess is a great example of that. She was incredible today. Our older players are also giving us a lot more leadership and the standards start with our upperclassmen. Internal leadership is critical in a team's success and they've been doing a great job on and off the field, sidelines, and to the players playing. I thought Shannon represented that very well today and she earned a great goal out of it.
Four separate Camels did not leave the pitch over the full 90 minutes of action including
Erin Scott,
Amanda Crecelius,
Anna Brantley and
Callie Beckwith. Scott picked up the win between the pipes and recorded three saves with only one goal allowed over the full time. Scott's sole goal allowed marked just her second goal surrendered over 384 minutes of action throughout the Camels four match unbeaten streak.
"We will reset tomorrow and we will continue to sharpen and get better," closed Azem.
Campbell takes a week break from competition before hosting Longwood on October 10 for a 7:00 p.m. kickoff at Eakes Athletics Complex.