CLINTON, Miss. – All the scoring came early when two of the top teams in the Gulf South Conference met on Sunday afternoon on the Robert P. Longabaugh Field. The Lee University women's soccer team remained unbeaten after the 1-1 draw with Mississippi College, but Coach Chris Hennessey quickly admitted it was not the result his team was looking for.
The Lady Flames wasted no time in getting on the board in the third minute of play when Alaysia Nye ripped her unassisted shot into the right-side corner of the net at the 3:56 mark to give Lee the lead. It was Nye's 11th goal of the year. The Lady Choctaws answered right back when Kathryn Knuth got an assist from Erin Henderman to score (4:40) and end all the scoring for the day.
The Lady Flames stand at 11-0-4 overall and 9-0-2 in the important GSC race. The Lady Choctaws are 9-2-2 and 8-2-1. Lee will be back in action on Friday and will be hosting Christian Brothers on the Ray Conn Sports Complex at 5 p.m.
Lee had a couple of opportunities to break the tie late in the second half. Grace Berry broke free and was grabbed by Lady Choctaw goalkeeper Anna Wes Driskell as she attempted to score. As a result, the Lady Flames were awarded a penalty kick. Kate Dirkse took the kick that sailed just high and hit the crossbar.
Some two minutes later, Ruth Edrington had a great look that was saved by the Mississippi College keeper. Shots were hard to come by the entire day. Lee took 14 shots and had four on goal. They were awarded only two corner kicks. The game officials allowed both teams to play freely. The Lady Flames were called for two fouls and given one yellow card. Lee keeper Abby Whitcomb had two saves.
On the other side, the always dependable Lee defense held Mississippi College to just six shots and three were on target. The Lady Choctaws had four corner kicks. They were called for three fouls and goalkeeper Driskell had three saves.
Coach Chris Hennessey's thoughts:
"We didn't get the result we wanted. We were a little slow in our decision making today and give Mississippi College a little credit for that. They came ready to fight and it was a battle from the start. There is not a lot to say about this game.
"We will get back home and try to get some rest and keep moving forward as we are nearing post-season play. We still have a lot of work to do."
