Two Goals Within A Minute Late In Second Half Lift FSU To Key GLIAC Victory

Big Rapids, Mich. - A pair of critical late second-half goals within a minute of each other enabled the Ferris State University women's soccer squad to register an important 4-2 victory over visiting Ashland on Friday (Oct. 17) at the FSU Soccer Field in Big Rapids.

The Bulldogs jumped out to a 1-0 lead less than 25 minutes into the contest and the score stood until the final 15 minutes of the outing. However, a total of five goals were scored within 10 minutes of each other the rest of the way as the scoring increased and worked in FSU's favor.

The win was a key Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) victory for the Bulldogs, who entered the contest trailing the Eagles by a game in the league standings with five outings left in the regular-season and both teams battling for potential conference postseason tournament berths.

FSU opened the scoring at 24:18 of the first half as junior forward Casey Shauman tallied her team-leading eighth goal of the year on a shot in the box off a corner kick try. The assist was given to senior midfielder Leanne Boehm as FSU took a 1-0 lead into the break.

In the second half, the two teams continued to battle physically as light rain fell. The Eagles finally tied the contest up at a goal apiece in the 75th minute when Kelsey McKernan drew a foul and scored unassisted on a penalty kick.

However, Ferris State quickly responded less than three minutes later as FSU took a 2-1 lead on junior midfielder Abby Meirndorf's second goal of the season. Her unassisted shot on a free kick found the corner of the net to give the Bulldogs the advantage once again.

Ashland answered back at 84:25 when Carson Janssen tallied her third goal of the campaign on a shot near the net off a feed from Morgan Bittengle.

But, FSU picked up a pair of goals over the next minute to regain control and earn the win. The first, which was the eventual game-winner, came from junior Stephanie Garland on a shot that scooted around the Ashland goalkeeper off an assist from senior Taylor DiCicco. It was her third goal of the year and came at 84:56 of the second half.

Then, only 30 seconds later, senior midfielder Riley Wood found the back of the net on a pass upfield from Shauman at 85:35 to account for the final margin.

Ferris State improved to 4-7-2 overall and 3-4-1 in league play with the win while AU fell to 7-5-0 overall and 3-4-0 in conference play.

FSU held a 30-20 edge in total shots, including 20 in the second half compared to only 14 for Ashland. The Eagles owned a 17-14 edge in shots on goal with FSU receiving five corner kicks to only for for AU.

Shauman paced Ferris State with a contest-high eight total shots while Garland had six. Both individuals had three on goal for the Bulldogs.

Overall, Ashland was called for 14 fouls to eight for the Bulldogs.

Bulldog sophomore Savanna Wojtanowski tallied 15 saves in 90 minutes of action for Ferris State in earning the victory in net while AU's Karly Beuck totaled 10 saves in suffering the loss.

Ferris State plays its final regular-season home contest on Sunday (Oct. 19) with another important league contest against the Lake Erie Storm starting at 1 p.m. (ET) in Big Rapids. LEC is also battling along with the Bulldogs for a spot in the league tournament. It will mark FSU's annual Senior Day contest as Ferris State honors its 2014 seniors prior to the outing.