Friday, August 26, 2005

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Not even heavy rains and lightning could dampen the spirit of the University of North Florida women's soccer team after the squad scored a 1-0 win over McNeese State in its Division I debut Friday night at UNF Soccer Stadium.

After nearly an hour delay, officials were forced to call the game in the 71st minute due to heavy lightning in the area. Because the game had passed the 70th-minute of play it qualified as an official game.

"I think the girls were pretty excited to get the win," UNF head coach Mike Munch said. "With the delay it was kind of anticlimactic, but the girls were still excited. They played well. I thought the effort was outstanding. No one was happy with the effort we put out in our last exhibition with Armstrong Atlantic State, and I think that helped motivate our girls to come out and play hard from the very beginning. They did a really good job tonight."

Senior midfielder Tessa Heer secured the win for UNF (1-0-0) when the Albuquerque, N.M., native fired the ball past McNeese State goalkeeper Aubrey Ross at the 54:18 mark of the match. UNF senior forwards Christine Brewer and Ali Blochl recorded assists on the goal.

Blochl started the scoring play by finding Brewer in front of the goal. Brewer then headed the Blochl pass to Heer who converted the pass into the game-winning goal.

"All three players really did an outstanding job," Munch said. "Ali did a nice job of finding Christine and then Christine made a great pass to Tessa who was able to turn it into a goal. It was a really nice goal. It won't go down in the box score, but Elizabeth Gowan also played a big role in us scoring that goal. She had got behind the defense for the second time in a row and they had to foul her to try and prevent a goal. That set up the free kick for Ali."

UNF freshman goalkeeper Rachael Howard recorded the shutout win for the Lady Ospreys. Howard finished the match with one save.

UNF outshot the Cowgirls 7-2.

The Lady Ospreys will return to action on Sunday when they travel to Statesboro, Ga., to take on Georgia Southern. That match is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. ET.