* mock journalistic piece *
Journalism
Appalachian State Women’s Soccer Team Wins Conference Tournament and Advances to NCAA Tournament
By KIRSTIE FLEGER
Staff Writer
Release: April 27, 2015
MOBILE, Ala. – Last Friday, the Appalachian State University Women’s Soccer team beat rival Georgia Southern 3-0 to win the Sun Belt Conference tournament and advance to the NCAA Division I Tournament for the first time in program history.
The Mountaineers (8-5-1) went into the game with the thought of how they finished last year against the Eagles in the back of their minds. After losing the game 1-0, they made a promise to each other to never lose to their rivals again. “We played so well but in the end we had some unlucky bounces and they put away two goals,” said senior captain Nicole Steyl. “This year though, I knew no one wanted to lose again and we worked even harder to win.”
With senior Julia Holz scoring two goals and junior Sam Childress scoring the third, Appalachian State dominated in all aspects of the game Friday night by recording 10 shots to Georgia Southern’s three. Holz, Childress and sophomore Jane Cline each recorded three shots and freshmen Kelly Flanders tallied a shot as well. Appalachian junior keeper Megan Roberson only had two saves, one of the lowest recorded games she has had while in her college career. “Our defense played phenomenal all game,” said Roberson. “We pressed them the entire time and the ball barely got through our back line. It definitely made my job look easy!” The Mountaineers also only committed three fouls compared to the Eagle’s seven.
Now Appalachian must start prepping for their first ever appearance in the NCAA Tournament. While they have competed in their conference tournament many times, the team has always lost in the semi-finals or first round. Some of the contests were very close with Appalachian losing by only one goal and two of the games went into penalty kicks.
This time however, the girls would prove that they deserved to win the conference and advance to the NCCA tournament.
Head coach Sarah Strickland is excited for this opportunity, as it is her first NCAA Tournament appearance in her 11 years of coaching. “These girls have worked so hard the past year in order to get to this place. We always say ‘9 for 3’, which means you work nine months out of the year for the three months you’re in season and this year, those nine months paid off. I have never seen a more dedicated and collective group of girls than I see in the team this season.”
A lot of this dedication comes from this year’s senior class. The nine seniors have made sure that the focus is on the team succeeding and playing for each other instead of playing for the seniors. “Coming in freshman year with 16 freshmen is really intimidating and overwhelming,” senior Amber Miller said. “But I think that also helped us see that it wasn’t about just the girls in our class but more about all of the girls on the team.”
This investment within each other is what has driven the Appalachian Women’s Soccer team this 2015 season and will continue to drive them as they prepare for the NCAA Tournament. Senior Morgan Fancher put into perspective what the team was feeling: “We have nothing to lose so we’re not going to hold anything back and just go after it.”
The Mountaineers are waiting to hear whom they will play in the first round but will play on Friday, May 8 at the home field of their opponent.