Strong First Half Pushes Golden Tigers Past Bulldogs
Three first half goals propelled the Brenau Golden Tigers soccer team to a resounding 3-0 victory over the Tennessee Wesleyan Bulldogs on Saturday afternoon.
In the sixth minute of the first half, Kayla Madsen (Flowery Branch, GA) took a Taylor Salmon (Bradenton, FL) pass and drilled a shot to give Brenau an early an 1-0 lead.
The Brenau offensive attack added a second goal as a Kirsty Smith (Doncaster, England) corner kick was gathered by fellow senior Linda Chukwuji to increase the Golden Tigers' lead to 2-0.
The Golden Tigers added a third marker when Esther Anyanwu (Lagos, Nigeria) took a double assist from Madsen and Vanessa Alexander (Toronto, Canada) and found the back of the net for her 5th goal of the season to give the Golden Tigers a commanding 3-0 lead into the half. Brenau dominated possession, taking 15 shots in the first half and 25 total shots in the match, while Tennessee Wesleyan managed only 6 shots on the afternoon.
Coach Mike Lochstampfor complimented his team's early offensive play, saying that, "We discussed before the game coming out with more offensive intensity in the first half and really creating a lot of scoring chances and we did just that. I felt that our attack was much more coordinated and we scored some really nice goals in the process".
Senior goalkeeper Tori Brown (Windermere, FL) tallied three saves on the afternoon, most notably a late save to preserve the shutout for the Golden Tigers.
Coach Lochstampfor was equally pleased with his defense, noting that, "Our back line was solid all day long and shut down the attack from the home team and the couple of chances they did have Tori [Brown] turned away, including the phenomenal save at the end of the game".
"This was one of our most complete performances to date and really showcased our offensive capabilities. This was a great team effort and performance overall".
The win improved the Golden Tigers' record to 3-1-1 on the season. Brenau hits the road again for their fifth straight away game on September 15th to play Thomas University. Match time is 1:00 pm eastern.