FLORENCE, S.C. — Ella Matthews chalked up her first career brace to power the No. 9 Catawba College women's soccer team in a 2-1 road win over Francis Marion at Hartzler Field on Wednesday afternoon.
Matthews received ample assistance on her first two scores of the year as Bree Ehmer was credited with two dimes while Harper Dussouy and Cadence Setzer were each credited with one assist. Of the Catawba Indians' (4-1) eight shots, six players logged an attempt with Matthews being the only one with multiple, scoring on two of her three deliveries. Lauren Zitt enjoyed one of her strongest outings of the season with five saves on six shots faced.
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Although Catawba was doubled up in shots at 16-8, the Patriots (2-2) struggled with accuracy as the squads finished at 6-all in on-goal tries. Corner kicks landed at an even 3-3 with fouls led by Catawba in 9-5 fashion, despite Francis Marion being issued two yellow cards.
The Catawba Indians put the pressure on early, stringing together passes down the near side after a goal kick. Kaitlyn Johnson brought the rock across midfield to Ehmer, who kept it rolling toward the endline to a sprinting Dussouy. The freshman won the race to the ball and punched it to the top of the six-yard box to Matthews, whose right-footed one-timer found the twine, giving Catawba a 1-0 edge less than three minutes in.
Zitt faced a pair of on-target boots from the Patriots midway through the first half ahead of a remarkably uneventful span of 10-15 minutes. Action picked up following a host of changes for both sides, including a shot on goal by Kennedy McGuire and another by a Patriot, but the score remained static at the break.
Like clockwork, the blue and white succeeded in a quick surge that began to develop with an Ehmer pass to the corner. Setzer outran her defender with a couple of dribbles and threaded a feed through the middle to Matthews, who settled it and fired into a vacated left side of the net. Ehmer's bid at goal No. 3 was turned away in the 65th minute while FMU's first score came via an unassisted dart in the 72nd.
The hosts worked a corner kick inside the 10-minute mark and drilled three shots toward the visiting net, but the corner was broken up and all three attempts missed high. Catawba successfully cleared out a final opportunity for the Patriots in the last minute, putting the finishing touch on a triumph against the No. 5 team in the Southeast Region.
Matthews' big day catapulted her to the top of Catawba's offensive rankings, putting her even with Ehmer at seven points – good for second in the South Atlantic Conference – and created a four-way tie in scoring at two goals apiece. While the Catawba Indians improved to 2-0 against teams it hosted in last season's NCAA Tournament pod, the other team – Lander – avenged its regional final loss to Lenoir-Rhyne with a 1-0 upset of the No. 7 Bears on Wednesday night.
Catawba is back in action inside friendly confines on Saturday, Sept. 12, with a 7:30 p.m. kickoff against SAC opponent Mars Hill at Frock Field.
