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Coach King Interview
KENNESAW, Ga. – After Kennesaw State and Jacksonville played to a scoreless tie through regulation time, senior Caitlin Dingle netted the game-winning goal in the 96th minute as the Owls advanced to the finals of the 2009 Atlantic Sun Conference Women’s Soccer Championship with a 1-0 win on Thursday night at the KSU Soccer Complex.
The victory puts Kennesaw State in the championship match on Saturday afternoon at 1:00 p.m. against the Belmont Bruins, who defeated Stetson, 1-0, in the other conference semifinal match.
“Thais [Gibson] made a great run,” said Dingle on the game-winning goal. “I knew she was going to get a cross off so I made sure I got to the near post, just like Coach King always tells us to do. It felt really great.”
The Owls (10-6-0), who played their first overtime match of the year, were aggressive from the outset as they tried to establish pressure early. The Black and Gold took the first four shots of the match, including two shots on goal from Brittany Vining and a blast by Maylee Attin-Johnson that narrowly missed putting the Owls on top.
Junior goalkeeper Staci Pugh kept the game scoreless in the 16th minute when she came up with two huge back-to-back saves from Jacksonville’s all-conference selections Jessica Hurtado and Liz Fink. The Dolphins (8-7-5) had five of their seven shots on goal in the first half.
“I remember thinking to myself that this is going to have to be a reaction save,” said Pugh. “There were a few of our defenders in front of me and I just tried to move as quickly as possible to get to the second shot. Jacksonville got a corner out of it, but they didn’t score so I can’t complain.”
Pugh came up with another big save in the 24th minute when JU’s Lisa Hensley ripped a shot from 10-yards out. The Kennesaw State offense answered back with two shots as freshman defender and All-Freshman Team selection Jade Dempster and Thais Gibson pressured Alexa Rooney, who came up big with her only two saves of the first half.
Kennesaw State dominated possession in the second half as they took 10 corner kicks while peppering the Dolphins with 11 shots.
“We have a lot of people in the box on our corner kicks that can finish goals,” added Dingle. “All it takes is putting it in the box and somebody getting a little touch on it. We definitely work on corner kicks a lot, but unfortunately none of them went in tonight.”
With their offense kicking into high gear in the second half, several players, including Dingle, Vining and Kristin Marietta, had the opportunity to put the Owls ahead, but a stingy Jacksonville defense would not allow them to convert.
“We kept pressure on them in the second half,” said head coach Rob King. “If we allow that team some time, they have one or two really good players that could hurt us so we knew we had to keep pressure on the ball which would create scoring opportunities for us and we did that really well.”
While the Owls could not score in the second half, Pugh helped preserve the Owls eighth shutout of the season, making another clutch save with under 10 minutes remaining in the second half.
“It gets a little frustrating watching the clock wind down and not having a goal,” said Pugh. “But that’s my job as a keeper to make sure that they are not scoring on us.”
Only two shots were attempted in overtime, both from Dingle. Her first shot in the 91st minute was blocked inside the penalty box and four minutes later she scored the game winner, lifting the Kennesaw State to its second-ever Atlantic Sun Championship match.
“We have to come out against Belmont and go at them again,” added Coach King. “It’s going to be a very close game and whoever takes their chances is going to win the match, just like the one tonight. Our girls are excited and confident so I know we will be ready.”
The Atlantic Sun Conference Women’s Soccer Championship Match is set for 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 7 at the KSU Soccer Complex.