HICKORY, N.C. – There were no surprises after 90 minutes of battle between two powerful NCAA DII women's soccer teams on Thursday afternoon at the Moretz Sports - Athletic Complex. The visiting Lee Lady Flames scored in the 11th minute (11:48) of the first half and the Lenoir-Rhyne Bears evened the score at the 30:25 mark in the first stanza. Both defenses took control for the remainder of the hard-fought contest, resulting in the 1-1 tie.
The Lady Flames were 12-4-5 last season and the host Bears, champions of South Atlantic Conference regular season play, also had three draws at the end of their year. Lee will have a short turn around, traveling to Jefferson City and facing rival Carson-Newman on Saturday at 5 p.m.
Sophomore Avery Sides tallied the first goal of her career for the Lady Flames, and it was unassisted. Elin Hansson countered with the score for Lenoir-Rhyne. It was assisted by Ria Acton.
Stats for the contest showed how evenly the game was played. The Lady Flames fired 15 shots and had six on goal. The Bears took 13 shots against Lee's defenders and also put six on frame. Lee goalkeeper Abby Whitcomb had five saves while Kristin Oliver also knocked down five shots on target for Lenoir-Rhyne.
The rugged contest saw the Lady Flames whistled for eight fouls and two yellow cards and the Bears picked up five fouls. The Lady Flames were awarded nine corner kicks and Lee's defense stepped up again by allowing the Bears only four corners.
Coach Chris Hennessey Thoughts:
"I'm happy with the result. Lenoir-Rhyne is a very good team. I thought we came out a little flat but responded well and played much better in the second half. We had our chances to put up another goal or two.
"It was one of those days in getting ready for the game. We had some bus problems which delayed our trip to the field, but again our girls played well overall."
"Now, we will make the 4 ½ hour trip back home, get a little rest and get ready for another tough trip on Saturday at Carson-Newman. They posted a 5-3 win over North Greenville and I'm sure they will be ready for our game."
