LEXINGTON, Va. - In a contest that saw the teams battle both each other and the elements, the UNC Asheville Bulldogs got a diving save from goalkeeper Heather Muller with 26 seconds to go to preserve a 1-0 victory over the VMI Keydets in Big South women's soccer action Wednesday afternoon at VMI's Patchin Field.
With Asheville (6-9-2, 2-5-2 Big South) nursing a one-goal lead in a driving rain, VMI's (3-13, 1-8 BSC) Myranda Emery found space to Muller's left on the right side of the field. Emery, cutting from left to right, settled herself and laced a low bullet toward the lower right of the net, but Muller made a sprawling save to her left and controlled the rebound, preserving the victory.
Kennedy Garrett, Asheville's leading scorer, tallied in the 60th minute for the day's lone goal. Amanda Knapp picked up the assist on the play. Emery led the Keydets in shots with four on a day that saw the teams deadlocked in that statistic, 15-15. Perhaps the day's most critic stat, however, saw VMI draw a stunning 11 offside violations to three for the Bulldogs.
The contest began very deliberately under clear, crisp conditions on the late October afternoon. Lizzy Cotter had the day's first serious threat, coming in the 19th minute when Emery played a through ball that found her feet. Cotter ran on to the ball and found herself in a 1 v 1 situation with Muller, but from 10 yards out, shot the ball right into Muller's stomach for an easy save.
The Keydets threatened again in the 21st minute. Bridgette Pouliot played a free kick into the box, and Sam Boney's resultant shot was blocked aside. Muller picked up the ball in the ensuing scrum, ending the threat.
In the 31st minute, the Keydets had another opportunity, but a Kristen Whitehurst 1 v 1 chance with Muller was wiped out after an offside violation.
Asheville finally put a shot on goal in the 43rd minute, when Shenny Lehhart was easily stopped by Liz Nickerson on a try from distance. That sent the contest to halftime scoreless, in a match that had seen VMI control the tempo in the opening half.
The visitors broke through in the 60th minute, when Knapp slipped a ball through the VMI defense, well into the box just to Nickerson's right. Garrett banged it home for a 1-0 Asheville lead, but the Keydets nearly tied the match seven minutes later. One of the linesmen raised his flag for an offside violation as VMI pressed forward, but the call was waived off by the center referee. Emery tried a shot from eight yards out, going from Muller's right to left, but just missed the far post and tying the match.
The Bulldogs then just missed doubling their lead on a virtual carbon copy of their goal. This time, Garrett took Knapp's pass just to Nickerson's left, but missed the shot wide to keep it a 1-0 contest.
Nickerson stopped Amanda Dailor at 68:46 and Muller stopped Emery at 73:03 as the pace appeared to pick up. VMI then had two 75th-minute chances, both well inside the box, blocked by Asheville defenders as the visitors clung to the one-goal lead.
In the 83rd minute, a slow drizzle started that, within two minutes, had picked up a great deal and become a consistent, slowly driving cold rain. The Keydets kept up the pressure in the adverse conditions, earning two corner kicks in the 87th minute and putting the ball into the box both times, but Asheville cleared the ball away on both occasions. The visitors forced a Nickerson save at 88:09, but VMI possessed the ball for the majority of the final 90 seconds, setting the stage for Muller's save on Emery in the closing moments.
"This was truly a crazy fall afternoon, between the weather and a tough contest with what I thought was a great effort from our team," said VMI head coach Bryan Williams. "We created numerous chances today against a tough Asheville team, and I felt it was an exciting game to watch. I thought, virtually to the last second, we had a chance to equalize and take this game to overtime. I was proud of the way we fought and kept creating opportunities, right down to Myranda Emery's try with 26 seconds to go that Asheville's keeper made the nice save on."
On the day, Asheville finished with a 5-3 lead in shots on goal, with Muller making three saves to Nickerson's four. The Keydets had six of the match's seven corner kicks and it was a relatively clean match, as just 12 fouls were called. In winning, Asheville preserved its hopes to advance to the Big South Tournament, while VMI was eliminated from contention for a berth.
VMI women's soccer will return to action Saturday, when the Keydets take on Campbell in Buies Creek, N.C. Action gets underway at 7 p.m.
