CULLOWHEE, N.C. --- The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women's soccer team had its eye on seventh in the Southern Conference standings but was unable to get past Western Carolina Friday night at the Catamount Athletic Complex, falling 2-0 to the Cats.
The Mocs fall to 3-12-2 on the year and 1-6-1 in league play while Western Carolina improves to 7-7-3 overall and 3-4-1 against the conference.
It was a tale of two halves as the two team played fairly even in the first, but it would be the second where the Catamounts scored both goals.
"In the first half, we defended really well as a group," Chattanooga head coach
Gavin McKinney said. "We created some good opportunities but didn't take full advantage.
"In the second half they put us under a little pressure and we didn't handle it especially well. We put ourselves into an early hole."
Western Carolina Kimberly Sullivan scored the first goal in the 51
st minute on an assist from Sayres McKenna. McKenna would get the insurance goal just less than three minutes later on an assist from Markie Studnicky at the 53:09 mark of the game.
Senior keeper
Lauren Thomas was pressed into service when the Mocs' starter suffered an injury just as UTC finished pregame warmup. Thomas snared the one shot she faced in the first half and grabbed four more in the second half.
"She was put into a tough situation," McKinney said. "There wasn't time to prepare mentally and that's not easy as a player and I thought she did fine."
Western Carolina edged the Mocs 15-12 on shots and 7-4 on goal. UTC sophomore
Peyton McCollum (Oak Ridge, Tenn.) led the Mocs with four shots, two on goal, while
McKenzie Gregg (Newport, Tenn.),
Emily Moseley (Nashville, Tenn.) and Breandy Herrera (Clarksville, Tenn.) each contributed two.
WCU's Sullivan and Sara Robinson each had four shots to lead the Catamounts and got shots from five more players.
The Mocs will close out the regular season on Sunday at East Tennessee State at 2 p.m. in Johnson City. Follow all the action live at GoMocs.com.
