Aug. 28, 2011
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RUSTON, La. - Junior Finola Corley (Telford, England) scored the only goal of the game as the Louisiana Tech women's soccer team defeated Troy 1-0 in a defensive battle Sunday afternoon at Lady Techster Soccer Complex.
The Techsters improve to 3-1-1 on the season and Troy falls to 1-2-0.
Tech struggled to break the Trojans defense in the first half and only got off four shots. Sophomore Mia Schorpp (Fort Worth, Texas) nearly found the back of the net in the 27th minute from 20 yards out, but Troy's goalkeeper Ashley Branham made a leaping save near the right goal post.
After a scoreless first half, head coach Kevin Sherry switched up the Techsters' offensive game plan.
"I told our strikers to get closer together so when we played a longer ball we would have more players around it," Sherry said. "That caused more problems for them and created more chances for us."
The new offensive strategy worked as Corley was able to head a cross in from sophomore Taylor Dennis (Albuquerque, N.M.) in the 47th minute for her first goal of the year.
"We had a cross that was deflected first and Taylor followed it up with a cross from the corner," said Corley. "I happened to be in front of the defender and knocked the ball in the back of the net."
Senior Olivia Lukasewich (Woodbridge, Ontario) had a chance to increase the Lady Techster's lead in the 86th minute after out running the defense to a long ball, but Branham leaped to her left and caught the ball to keep the score 1-0.
Sherry was happy to come away with the victory after seeing Troy's defensive game plane.
"Troy was really well organized and compact," stated Sherry. "It was going to be difficult break them down and score. We knew one goal was going to do it, but it was difficult to accomplish."
LA Tech outshot Troy 11-2 on the day with Lukasewich leading the way with four shots, two of them on goal. Dennis' assist gave her three for the season and the team lead.
Sophomore Caitlin Updyke (Broomfield, Colo.) started in goal and stopped the only shot she faced that was on target. With the shutout, Updyke has three for the season, 10 in her career and is now two away from tying teammate Cat Buchanan (Shawnee, Kan.) for the program's all-time mark.
For the Trojans, Samantha Morgan and Mary Morris were credited with a shot apiece with Morgan's being the only attempt on goal. Branham saved four shots and fell to 1-2-0 on the season in net.
Tech travels to Jacksonville, Ala. to play in the adidias Gamecock Soccer Classic next weekend with games against Tennessee Tech (Sept. 2) and host Jacksonville State (Sept. 4). The next LA Tech home match is September 9 at 4 p.m. against Stephen F. Austin at the Lady Techster Soccer Complex.
To keep up-to-date with Lady Techster soccer, visit the official home of Louisiana Tech Athletics at LATechSports.com and follow sports information contact, Phillip Pongratz, on twitter, twitter.com/LATechPPongratz, for the latest and most current news.
