Box Score
SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Sophomore Kristin Kranick had her first multi-goal game of the season on Friday night to help lead the Owls to a 5-0 win over Atlantic Sun Conference opponent, USC Upstate, at County University Stadium.
The Owls (8-5-0, 6-2-0 A-Sun) went up 1-0 just four minutes into the match on an own goal that was headed in by a Spartan player. Lauren Ruffini and Jade Dempster received assists on the play.
The Black and Gold had several opportunities to score in the first half, out-shooting the Spartans, (0-16-0, 0-7-0 A-Sun) 9-2. Sophomore Katie Scott sent a shot just wide off a corner kick by Caitlin Dingle in the 19th minute, but did find the back of the net just six minutes later when she scored from inside the box on a cross from Kristin Marietta to give the Owls a 2-0 lead at halftime.
USC Upstate keeper, Brittany Daughtry, had two saves in the first eight minutes of the second half, both off the foot of Dingle. In the 54th minute, the Owls took a 3-0 lead after Marietta took a shot in front of the net that deflected off the keeper into the net. Dingle and Ruffini tallied their second assists of the night on the goal.
The rest of the match was all Kennesaw State as they out-shot the Spartans 15-1, tallying two more goals, both from Kranick. The Kennesaw, Ga. native used a cross from Bridget Gaughan to score from 20 yards out in the 64th minute. Just two minutes later she scored on a header off a corner kick from Alyssa Mahan to give the Owls the 5-0 advantage.
With the clock winding down, the Owls did not let up, taking several more shots on goal, including shots from Savannah Duet and Liz Blackburn. The Black and Gold defense only allowed three shots from the Upstate offense while Owl keeper, Staci Pugh, had two saves in the match.
The win moved the Owls to a 6-2-0 league mark and kept them in first place with just two matches left in the regular season. Kennesaw State travels to Johnson City, Tenn. to take on the Buccaneers of East Tennessee State at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday.