CLEVELAND, Tenn. - The Lee University women's soccer team celebrated senior afternoon with a hard-fought 2-0 victory over Delta State University at the Ray Conn Sports Complex on Friday. The Lady Flames completed regular season play with an impressive 8-1-2 conference mark and 11-1-3 overall. The Lady Statesmen dropped to 5-3-3 and 6-5-4. Lee will begin GSC tournament play next week.
Maddie Davis, Mallory Miller, Abby Whitcomb and Ambre Allebe were honored during the senior presentation before the contest began.
After a scoreless first half, the Lady Flames moved on top 1-0 when Megan Davis was awarded a free kick. She promptly put her team ahead at the 63:53 mark when her kick sailed into the left corner of the net off her left foot. It was Davis' fourth goal of the year.
Audrey O'Meara put an insurance score on the board in the 79th minute (79:17). O'Meara's goal gave the Lady Flames the 2-0 lead. It was her third goal of the season and was assisted by Whitney Carrigan.
Lee's defense dominated the contest, holding the Lady Statesmen to only four shots, but they were able to place three on goal. Lady Flames' keeper, Abby Whitcomb, got three saves and was awarded her 11th win of the year. On the other side, Lee fired 19 shots and eight were on target. Delta State goalkeeper Kim Bircher picked up two saves in the loss.
Carrigan, Emma Nelson, Lucy Smith, Sydney Clements and Isabella Valentine had shots on goal for the Lady Flames. Lee fought for six corner kicks and the Lady Statesmen battled for four. There were 21 fouls called in the rugged contest; Lee had 13 and Delta State eight. The Lady Flames received one yellow card.
Coach Lee Hughes's Thoughts:
"We had plenty of chances. Delta is a good team. But we finally broke through. For our senior class if I could say just one word it is culture. They all bring so much selflessness and effort for the team and their teammates and we will miss them."
