Senior midfielder Hailey Beam scored her 4th and 5th goals of the season and also tallied an assist as the Charlotte 49ers women’s soccer team knocked off Duquesne 5-3. The win improved Charlotte to 7-2 on the year, 1-0 in A-10 play and also extended the team’s 17-game winning streak in conference play. The loss dropped Duquesne to 3-5 on the year, 0-1 in A-10 play.
“It’s always nice to get the first conference win,” said head coach John Cullen. “As I said to the girls, it’s nice to score five goals, but there was still a question mark about conceding three which he have to improve upon.”
Beam opened the scoring in the 28th minute when she was awarded a penalty kick after Carrie Dail was tackled from behind. The goal was Beam’s fourth of the season.
Duquesne squandered a great chance to tie the game just seven minutes later when they were awarded a penalty kick of their own. However, senior goalkeeper Lauren Brown guessed right and came up with a gargantuan diving save, stopping Morgan Herbert’s shot to the bottom-left corner.
Freshman midfielder/forward Carrie Dail made the score 2-0 when she received a great through-ball from Jonna Handra down the right side and chipped the ball over Duquesne goalkeeper Gabby Morin, her third of the season.
A steady rain fell on Transamerica field from start to finish, but that didn’t hamper a confident 49ers team that accumulated nine shots during the first half. The first half was relatively mild in comparison to the second half, which saw six goals total, three from each side.
Charlotte amassed 18 total shots for the game and held the visiting Dukes to only 12. Junior forward Whitney Weinraub led the 49ers in that category with four and also added her 6th goal of the season when she dribbled through three Duquesne defenders and blasted the ball past goalkeeper Gabby Morin.
“Whitney was very good tonight, her movement was good,” added coach John Cullen. “She certainly came on and gave us a goal when we needed it and I thought she was a real threat tonight. If she can maintain that performance, she’s going to have a very good season in the conference.”
Duquesne wasn’t deterred as they made the score 2-1 in the 57th minute when Shaina Geisler got a shot past Lauren Brown from outside the box on the right side for her first of the year. Weinraub made it 3-1 just four minutes later, but Duquesne quickly answered in the 65th minute when Samantha Kaiser’s shot from 30 yards out slipped past Brown.
There was a 12-minute stretch in the second half that saw four goals. Hailey Beam scored the fourth goal of that stretch for the eventual game-winner when she headed in a Sam Huecker corner kick from the right side. Jenna McKeon put the game out of reach with her third goal of the season in the 75th minute, making the score 5-2. Duquesne forward Kristin Vinicky added a garbage-time goal in the 87th minute to close the scoring.
The win was a great start for the 49ers in conference play but there is still work to be done on the defensive side of the ball.
“I think we’ve got to do a better job of closing,” head coach John Cullen said. “On the first goal, the girl was able to turn and shoot, and on the second one, she was able to get her head up and shoot, so we’ve got to do a better job of shutting people down.”
Charlotte heads to Fordham tomorrow to take on the Rams.
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