Letesha Cannonier's two goals kept the match close against Ashford.
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CLINTON, Iowa –
Letesha Cannonier scored two goals and
Paige Eli added one but the Davenport women's soccer team's historical 2012 season came to an end when a late goal in the final minutes of the second half lifted host Ashford to a 4-3 victory in the opening round of the NAIA Tournament Saturday afternoon.
The reigning Wolverine Hoosier Athletic Conference champions finish the season 17-3-1 overall.
The Lady Panthers out shot the Saints 23-16 overall, 13-10 on goal. Cannonier led the effort for the Panthers with six shots while Eli,
Lizzie Paul and
Mackenzie VanDerWarf collected four.
Michelle Marcus made six saves between the posts on the afternoon. One notable save was in the first half when she pushed a shot to the right corner of the goal post to prevent a match-tying goal.
The Saints jumped on the board quickly. At the 2:41 mark, a Saint split a pair of the Panther defenders and beat Marcus to the goal.
Davenport would answer back in the sixth minute when
Tam Grzybowski's corner kick from the right side found Cannonier inside the penalty box. Cannonier's first shot was deflected but she picked up the rebound and tried again successfully to tie the match 1-1.
The Lady Panthers would grab the lead in the 16
th minute.
Karitas Elvarsdottir fed a cross to Eli on the right side and the sophomore forward would go one-on-one with Saints keeper Jessica VanDyke. Eli took a shot to the left post where the ball rolled out of the keepers reach and into the back of the net.
Like the first half, the Saints jumped quickly in the second to tie the match. In the 47
th minute, a Saint took a shot from the right side and went inside the far post.
The tie would be broken again by DU in the 54
th minute when Cannonier shot the loose ball from 25 yards out and went just underneath the crossbar.
Ashford's rally started in the 69
th minute and the match-winning goal was scored in the 87
th minute. The Lady Panthers did everything to find the tying goal, but the Saints defense prevented them from finding an opportunity as ran the clock down.
Post-Match Quotes – Head coach
Chris Allen
“I think we learned that we definitely belong at this level. We played excellent today but we didn't do enough to win the match. We scored three great goals and that was very pleasing at this level. The other side to that is making sure you defend very well and conceding four goals is just not good enough. We definitely have to address that and we will, we've got a long time to get ready for next season but I think the accomplished the team has made this year has been absolutely incredible. We will be back.”
Post-Match Notes
Davenport made its first appearance in the NAIA Tournament...the Lady Panthers finish the season setting records in points (164), goals (60) and assists (53)…it is Davenport's first loss since Sept. 22 at St. Ambrose, spanning 12 matches unbeaten.
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