UNC Pembroke shuts out Trojan women

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on August 31, 2012 1:48 PM

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MOUNT OLIVE -- Mount Olive weathered the storm for 43-plus minutes Thursday afternoon.

Then the dam broke.

UNC Pembroke converted its first goal in the 44th minute and erupted offensively the second half for a 5-0 victory at Amon Field. It was the season-opening game for both teams.

"We're not happy that we created situations for that to happen, but we're young ... have so many players that it's going to take us a little bit of time, maybe more time than we'd like," MOC head coach Matt Hisler said.

The Braves dictated the tempo from the opening whistle and constantly pressured the Trojans' defense. The relentless intensity led to seven shots and freshman goalie Carolin Edenhofner worked to direct the defense in front of her.

UNCP, which leads the all-time series 7-0-1, finally broke the scoreless tie in the 44th minute. Amalia Arvidsson won a ball against an MOC defender and ripped a 20-yard blast on frame that slipped between Edenhofner and the near post.

The Braves' offense clicked in the second half.

Building attacks from the back and working balls into open spaces, UNCP scored four goals on five shot attempts. Rebecca Womack, freshman Rae-Shawna Campbell and Elke Groothuis combined to provide offense off of set pieces.

Campbell also collected a penalty kick.

"They're a very good team ... return a ton of players," Hisler said. "They're a very good team. They're understanding of how they want to attack is ingrained in all of those players. At times, we let the space be too big in between our different lines, and that gave them freedom and time on the ball to do what they wanted to do.

"It was hard for us to close them down."

UNCP held a 12-4 advantage in shots. Edenhofner logged one save between the pipes.