Elon Women’s Soccer Drops 2-1 Decision to App State in Overtime

ELON, N.C. – Appalachian State’s Samantha Childress scored the golden goal in the 96th minute of overtime on Sunday, Sept. 23 at Rudd Field, to hand the Elon women’s soccer team its first Southern Conference setback by way of a 2-1 decision.

Elon moves to 2-6-3 (0-1-1 SoCon) on the year, while Appalachian State improves to 4-5 (1-1 SoCon).

“We had a great first goal, but midway through the first half we just did not cherish possession the way we needed to,” said Phoenix head coach Chris Neal. “[Appalachian State] scored a great goal to end the match, so give them credit. But I thought we made it difficult on ourselves by not maintaining possession in key moments.

Raychel Diver scored a great goal for us today and, like she has been all season, Kimmie Krauss did a great job of getting the ball in a dangerous area. Shannon Foley did an outstanding job of getting in the right position for a powerful header that set everything up and allowed Raychel to bury the shot for us.”

Tied at 1-1 heading into overtime following a scoreless second period, Childress broke loose along the left side and landed a strike from about 15 yards away in the back of the net for the game-winner.

Raychel Diver scored the lone goal for the Phoenix in the seventh minute. Following a header off the crossbar from Shannon Foley, Diver struck a shot from inside the box near the ASU goal for the score to give Elon an early 1-0 advantage.

The Mountaineers tied it a 1-1 in the 28th minute however when Childress deflected in a Jamie Lockie shot from 20 yards away into the back right corner for the score.

The Phoenix landed four of its six shots on-target, while nine of ASU’s 17 shots were on goal. Both squads tallied three corners.

Kate Murphy played the entire match for the maroon and gold, totaling seven saves.

Elon is back at Rudd Field on Friday, Sept. 28, when it hosts The Citadel at 7 p.m.