UTC Women’s Soccer Wins Home Opener 4-1 Over Austin Peay
(gomocs.com)
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — It took almost 63 minutes to break the seal Thursday night at Finley Stadium. Once it was broken, however, the goals poured through for Chattanooga in a 4-1 non-conference women’s soccer victory against Austin Peay.
In just under 15 minutes, the Mocs put together a scoring clinic to secure their third straight win and improve to 3-1 overall. Austin Peay falls to 1-3-1 on the year.
Clarissa Salinas and Birna Johannsdottir teamed up to get the Mocs on the board first. Salinas sent in a pass from outside the box on the right side. Johannsdottir picked up the pass, turned and fired from eight yards out in front of the net to make it 1-0 at the 62:58 mark of the match.
A little more than six minutes later Austin Peay tied it up with an unassisted goal by Aniyah Mack on a speedy run down the field.
Over the next 6:15 Chattanooga painted the board with three more goals to secure the win. Caroline Richvalsky booted in the game winner in the 72nd minute. Zoey Mize brought the ball in from the left and sent it to Richvalsky in the middle of the box. Her first shot attempt was blocked but she kept her feet as the Govs hit the turf and sent her next shot past the Austin Peay keeper for the eventual game winner.
Richvalsky assisted on the Mocs third goal. Johannsdottir, on her way to the ground, punched the ball to Mackenzie Smith who fed it over to Richvalsky just a few yards away. Richvalsky slotted a pass through the Governors defense back to Smith in the box. She picked it up in stride and gave Chattanooga a 3-1 advantage with 16:25 remaining in the match.
Freshman Betha Pucek was not to be left out. She scored her first collegiate goal in the 78th minute. Smith sent a pass from the middle of the field over to Pucek on the right side just outside the box. She dropped a couple yards lower and floated her shot over the keeper to the far post for Chattanooga’s fourth goal of the match.
Chattanooga outshot Austin Peay 25-11 with eight shots on goal. Keeper Caroline Ekern recorded five saves in 90 minutes in the net. The Mocs had seven corner kicks with six in the first half alone.
The win is the second straight for UTC against the Govs and runs the Mocs win streak to three games.
UTC will host Jacksonville State Sunday afternoon at Finley Stadium. Kick off is slated for 1:00 p.m.
