HARTSVILLE, S.C. --- Coker University defeated Tusculum University 2-1 in the quarterfinals of the South Atlantic Conference Women's Soccer Championship tournament Saturday evening.
Catriona McNeil scored early in the second half for the fourth-seeded Cobras (10-3-4), who advance to play top-seeded Catawba in the semifinals on Friday, Nov. 14. The fifth-seeded Pioneers (8-8-2) were severely undermanned in the match, with two regulars out of the starting lineup and two more departing in the first six minutes due to injury.
Ella Wilke assisted on both goals for the Cobras, which came from Grace Sykes in the 25th minute and McNeil in the 48th minute. Carme Escamilla scored the Pioneers' lone goal in the 35th minute to send the teams to halftime tied at 1-1.
Coker finished with a 19-10 shot advantage over Tusculum, with Noemie Tartrou finishing with six saves for the Pioneers and Rhyan Parkin collecing five stops for the Cobras.
The Cobras needed less than a minute to have the first chance of the match as a shot by Wilke went off the crossbar. Just prior to the shot, Pioneer midfielder Adriana Netskos went down with an injury and was lost for the remainder of the match. Five minutes later, fellow midfielder Wilma Axelsson was hobbled after falling to the turf and was removed for the rest of the contest.
Coker had a chace in the 14th minute as Isabella Rychel took a pass through the defense and got a shot off that ricocheted off a sliding Tartrou and then off the crossbar. Tusculum had a look in the 21st minute from a sharp angle, but Parkin collected the short-hop shot off the foot of Addison Rishling.
The Cobras hit the crossbar for the third time in the 23rd minute as Sykes took a shot from the corner of the box that went square off the bar. However, Sykes would not be denied at 25:00 as a long pass from Wilke down the left side was played quickly from Rychel, and the pass went through the middle of the box to Sykes who rolled a shot through Tartrou for a 1-0 Coker lead.
In the 28th minute, it was the Pioneers' turn to find the wood as a 30-yard free kick from Marja Enste went off the top far corner above a leaping Parkin.
Tusculum got the tying goal at 34:14 as a corner kick from Caroline Heintzelman went into the box to Natali Maymon, whose short pass went to Escamilla and she hammered home her team-high seventh goal of the season to bring the Pioneers level at 1-1.
The Pioneers nearly took the lead in the final 30 seconds of the first half as the Cobras turned the ball over at the top of the box, leading to a sliding shot from Maymon that was turned away by a lunging Parkin to keep the score at 1-1 heading to halftime.
Coker took a 2-1 lead on the first shot of the second half, as Wilke set up McNeil for a high arcing shot from the top of the box that found the top right corner behind Tartrou.
The Cobras continued to bring the pressure after the goal, with Tartrou making saves on Alexis Spivey in the 50th minute and Hollie Tappin in the 53rd minute. Tusculum earned a free kick in the 54th minute, but Rishling's header in traffic came to Parkin on an easy bounce.
With time running low, the Pioneers put a header on goal from Maymon in the 76th minute that Parkin pulled in on a high bounce, on what would be the final attempt of the match for Tusculum. Remarkably, Coker hit the frame for the fourth time in the 78th minute as Wilke directed a shot off the near post. Wilke also had the final shot of the match which went wide in the 86th minute.
Tusculum had six corner kicks in the match to two for Coker, while the Cobras were called for 10 fouls to five for the Pioneers.
