ELON, N.C. – Elon University women’s soccer moved to 5-1-1 on the season after finishing with a 1-1 tie against Liberty at Rudd Field on Thursday, Sept. 12.
“I think we showed a lot of grit tonight against a good team,” head coach Neil Payne stated. “Liberty has played a tough schedule to this point. They have already beaten a team within our conference and were unfortunate to lose to another even though they played well in that game. So, we have to focus on the performance tonight, because we played well – particularly in the second half. We gave up a poor goal, so we’ve got to fix that, but we created a lot of chances all night long. That’s one of the things that you’ve got to measure as a coach, how much and how well you’re creating. I think on another day we will turn those chances into goals, because we got some really good chances tonight.”
With the tie, the Phoenix moved to 5-1-1 overall, marking the best start for the program since 2015. Liberty moved to 1-4-2 with the tie.
HIGHLIGHTS
Elon’s defense dominated the opening 20 minutes of the contest, completely shutting down Liberty’s offensive attack. During the stretch, the Phoenix held the Flames scoreless while only allowing one shot along the way.
The Flames took a 1-0 lead in the 28th minute after Kasey Jamieson’s shot hit the cross bar and bounced into the net. That lead would hold up until halftime.
Early in the second half, Elon’s defense was the story again. Led by Hauksdottir, the Phoenix did not surrender a goal to Liberty despite facing several shot attempts.
Bethany Harford came up big again for the Phoenix, scoring Elon’s lone goal of the match in the 87th minute to equalize things. The score remained tied at one for the final few minutes as the match headed to overtime.
Elon nearly won the match on the final play of the overtime period, when Jessica Carrieri broke free with the clock ticking down under 10 seconds. Carrieri fired a shot as the clock hit zero, but her attempt was blocked by a Liberty defender.
In the match, the Phoenix racked up 13 shots, including seven shots on goal, five corner kicks. Katrin Hauksdottir was credited with her first tie in goal for the Phoenix, making one save. Hauksdottir has won five games in goal for Elon this season.
UP NEXT
Elon travels to Hampton, Va. to take on the Pirates on Sunday, Sept. 15. That match is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m.