CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Louisiana Tech women's soccer fell for the first time in conference play Thursday on a physical, windy night in Charlotte, N.C., 2-0.
After a scoreless first half, Charlotte (2-6-1, 1-2-0 C-USA) scored on a pair of corner kick set-piece headers just ten minutes apart to find their first C-USA win of the 2022 slate. Bailey Manfredi picked up two assists, one in the 49' to Haley Shand and another to Tash Hudson in the 59'.
LA Tech (3-6-2, 1-1-1 C-USA) struggled to find any rhythm offensively on the night as they only managed two shots, one on goal and earned one corner chance.
Charlotte's relentless offensive attack created chance after chance leading to 22 total shots and ten corners.
Although only five of the 49ers' shots were on goal, their ability to maintain possession and create pressure on Tech's defensive backline proved difficult for Tech to flip the field and find offensive chances of their own.
Tech's best chance of the night came early in the 21', off a rebound attempt from
Emma Jones coming off a long shot attempt from North Carolina native
Josie Studer.
Sydnee Korchak picked up three saves in the match. The sophomore keeper has 51 career saves in 13 career starts.
Tech is now 1-1-1 to start Conference USA play earning four points in the C-USA standings.
QUOTABLES
Head Coach Steve
Voltz…
"We ran into a very hungry side tonight in Charlotte. They came in after two road losses for their home opener and they were hungry. We had a great chance early in the match that we didn't capitalize on and they finished two set pieces; that was the match. I'm still very pleased with how we are working and competing, but in this game, you never know when those few winning moments will present themselves. The tough part is continually staying ready, recognizing them, then executing them.
Tonight, just shows you how tough travel in this league can be and how important protecting home field is. We now get the next three at home starting with the preseason No. 1 Sunday in Rice for a huge match. At the end of the day, we have to show up and compete."
NOTABLES
• LA Tech now leads the all-time series 4-2-0 against Charlotte and 0-3 in Charlotte.
•
Sophie Fijneman,
Laura Ogando, and
Josie Studer played the full 90 minutes.
• Fijneman has gone the distance in nine of 11 matches this season, Ogando seven matches, and Studer two.
• Fineman made her 60th career appearance for LA Tech.
•
Tomoyo Kuroyanagi made her 40th start for the Techsters.
•
Lauren Mitra made her 10th career appearance.
•
Josie Studer was booked with a yellow card.
UP NEXT
LA Tech will return home for the first of a three-game home stand to face Rice Sunday, Sep. 25 at 1 p.m. at The Mack for the International Student Game. The game will be streamed on CUSATV.
SOCIAL MEDIA
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