Led by goalkeeper Michaela Gardner (above), the Piedmont College defense was lights out against a quality attack from the Scots of Maryville College holding on to a 1-0 win courtesy of a late score by the young freshman forward, Shayna Healy.
Demorest, GA – The Piedmont College women’s soccer team continued their flair for the dramatic in home contests this season with a 1-0 last minute victory over visiting USA South foe Maryville College earlier tonight. The win over the Scots is the first victory over the South Region power by the Lady Lions since the 2001 GSAC championship game when Piedmont defeated the Tennessee-based program for the conference title.
Controlling the run of play for much of the night, Piedmont shut down a dangerous Maryville offensive attack that had scored 37 goals in the Scots’ last eight games sporting a 6-1-1 overall record in that stretch dating back to September 19th. Despite the pieces up top who had caused fits for the Scots’ last eight opponents, the Lady Lions held Maryville to 13 total shots while creating 24 shots in the 90 minute battle, two shy of the most shots by PC all season long in a single match.
Piedmont would need several key saves on the night to hold the scoreboard level as keeper Michaela Gardner came through more than once collecting seven saves on the evening including a key parry off the crossbar in the first half off a deep shot by the Scots. Getting through the first 60 minutes scoreless, Piedmont began to control the momentum in the match mounting several attacks with eight shots coming in the last 30 minutes alone for the home team.
It was the eighth and final shot for PC that proved to be the difference as a cross from sophomore Megan Hatfield slipped past a Maryville defender finding a waiting Shayna Healy just a few yards out from goal. Healy used her left foot to loft the service over the head of Maryville keeper Rachel Taylor hitting the side netting and handing the Lady Lions a 1-0 win scoring with less than five minutes remaining.
Each team accounted for four corners on the night in a rather even match. Piedmont’s Megan Hatfield led the Lady Lions with her seven shots, two of which found the frame, while youngster Tori Gillett accounted for the most shots on frame with three hitting the target.
The win goes to Gardner who played the full 90 minutes between the pipes for PC moving her overall record as a starter to now 9-4-1 with six complete shutouts to her name. Piedmont has now won five games by a 1-0 scoreline in 2014. The Lady Lions have conceded only 11 goals all season, the least by any USA South member team this year.
With the victory, the Lady Lions move to 10-4-1 overall and are now 6-1-1 in league play. The win also secures Piedmont’s 7th consecutive double-digit win season in a row as well while also helping the Lady Lions climb into a two-way tie for 2nd place in the league standings with 19 points in eight games, five points behind league leader Meredith.
Piedmont will hit the road for their next action staying in conference play when paying USA South member Huntingdon College a visit this Saturday afternoon, October 18th. The contest is a rematch of Piedmont’s final home game from a season ago when the Lady Lions scored in overtime to knock off the Hawks 1-0 and secure a perfect season at home in 2013.
Kickoff in the weekend matchup between the USA South foes is set for 4:00 pm Eastern, 3:00 pm Central.
