Row makes history on Senior Day

Alesha Row could not have asked for a better way to go out on Senior Day, but the Catamount soccer team would have liked to have gotten the win; unfortunately, Western Carolina would have to settle for a 0-0 tie against the Elon Phoenix in front of 379 fans at the Catamount Athletic Complex on the last game of the regular season for both teams. The tie puts Western at 9-7-3 on the season and 5-3-2 in the Southern Conference. The record is good for a fifth-place finish in the conference. The first half of the game belonged to Western as they put 12 shots on goal as opposed to only two for the Lady Phoenix, but Western could not find the back of the net as Elons’ goalkeeper Lizz Johnson brushed aside a number of those shots for four saves in the first half as the game remained tied 0-0 at halftime. The second half was almost a mirror image of the first as Western dominated the offensive side for much of the half. Elon had their opportunity on a corner kick early in the second half as Katie Persichini kicked the ball towards the goal and Susannah Gianakos attempted to head into the goal; but Row got a hand on it and push it aside for her only save of the night as regulation ended in a 0-0 tie to force overtime. Both teams had their chances to win the game in overtime with just a single shot, but Elon was unable to get a shot attempt in both overtimes as Western had five shots on goal; but the Catamounts unable to find the back of the net as the game ended in a 0-0 tie. Western dominated the shots in this match with 23, Elon managed to only get five shots over the 110 minutes of the game. They also held a 12-3 advantage in Corner kick opportunities. Junior Heather Dittmer led the Lady Catamounts with seven shots, while Freshman Nikki Collins had four shots, three of them were on goal.Row only had to make one save for the game. The shut-out put her into sole position of first place on WCU soccer’s all-time list for shut-outs over a career, passing former Lady Catamount Mandi Tinsley (1999-02). She is the all-time record holder with 19 shut-outs. Row’s counterpart, Lizz Johnson had 10 saves for Elon (6-10-2; 3-5-2 SoCon), who finishes eighth in the Southern Conference.