Chris Raimondi—Sports Editor
The Kennesaw State soccer team’s hopes of pulling off the upset over Florida Gulf Coast University in the Atlantic Sun Conference championship fell short on Sunday with a 3-1 defeat in rainy Fort Myers, Florida.
“Always tough to lose a game like that,” KSU head coach Rob King said. “We have been playing well coming into the game. I don’t think it was our best performance, but we fought very hard.”
The Owls had a tough time slowing down A-Sun leading scorer Tabby Tindell all game as she scored two goals and one assist to go along with nine shots and four on goal for the Eagles. Less than 18 minutes into the first period, Tindell found the back of the net after racing past the Owls’ defense and finding a through ball played by Shannen Wacker.
Tindell notched her second goal of the game 20 minutes later by chipping KSU goal keeper Olivia Sturdivant to extend the Eagles’ lead to 2-0. The Owls only managed to take three shots in the first half and went into halftime down by two.
Coming out for the second half the Owls play improved along with the weather. KSU took four shots in the second half and Sturdivant put together a player-of-the-match effort with two big saves to keep the contest close.
Maggie Gaughan cut the deficit in half with a goal in the 72nd minute with the assist coming from Iyani Hughes off of a cross. The Owls searched for an equalizer but had no luck in finding the back of the net a second time. Tindell, instead, would collect her one assist of the match after Wacker finished an easy opportunity in the box in the 83rd minute.
The Eagles won the game and moved on to the NCAA tournament. KSU took home somewhat of a silver lining as Hughes, Gaughan and Danielle Gray were named to the A-Sun championship team.
The Owls entered the tournament with some momentum, winning their final game of the season just to make the tournament, but were still considered a huge underdog as the six seed. KSU knocked off a three seeded Jacksonville squad in the first round by a score of 5-0 and followed that performance with a double overtime 1-0 win over Lipscomb in the semifinals.
“It was really great to finally prove what kind of team we actually are,” Gray said. “We haven’t been playing our best throughout the entire season. We came in as a six seed, so we were the last team to make it, but I think we proved to everybody that we belong in this tournament and there was a reason that we were in the finals.”
Four seniors who played a major role in the Owls’ run to the championship leave the team in Julia Nelson, Alma Gardarsdottir, Nicole Calder and Hughes.
“Our seniors have been fantastic,” King said. “Great leadership on and off the field. They’ve been a very good class to have.”
King indicated at the team’s future and what effect the championship run could have on his young roster.
“The future looks very promising for this group,” King said. “Sixteen of 20 (on KSU) are freshmen and sophomores. They understand college soccer now. Being here, they have seen the best teams.”
