Women's Soccer

Awn-believable; Djumisic sends Bucs to 1-0 overtime win over Coastal Carolina

Box score

CONWAY, S.C. - Anja Djumisic scored her first career goal at an ideal time for the Charleston Southern soccer team. Her header in the 100th minute gave the Buccaneers a 1-0 overtime victory over Coastal Carolina University Friday night at Coastal Carolina Soccer Field.

Djumisic's goal was huge in that it not only gave CSU the victory, but it moved the Buccaneers into sole possession of first place in the Big South Conference standings for the time being.

Charleston Southern (12-4-1, 5-1-1 BSC) tied the school record for most wins in a single season (1993, '94, '07), and the triumph gives the Buccaneers 16 points in conference play. Radford University is currently second with 15 and Liberty University is third with 13. The Highlanders and Lady Flames will face off tomorrow in Lynchburg, Va., and both teams will play two games this weekend, while CSU is off until Oct. 29.

The loss drops the Chanticleers to 5-11-2 overall and ended a four-game unbeaten streak. CCU remains in fourth place in the Big South with a 3-3-1 mark.

The two teams entered the contest as the two highest scoring offenses in the conference, but it was the defenses and goalkeepers that would take center stage during the two regulation periods.

The game featured just five combined shots in the first half, and CSU held just a slim 9-8 shot advantage going into overtime.

The goal was scored when the Buccaneers were awarded a free kick 10 yards outside of the penalty box on the right side in the final minute of the first overtime. Jen Vroman took the free kick and sent the ball into the box where everyone was waiting. Djumisic timed her jump perfectly and was able to send the road side back to Charleston with a victory.

The game-winner was only made possible after CSU goalkeeper Jena Lalich made two huge saves on Dana Gentile in the first few minutes of the extra session. Gentile entered the contest second in the conference in both goals (9) and points (18) to only Marky Boyce, but Charleston Southern shut her out despite her attempting three shots on goal.

Lalich (7-1-1) finished the contest with five saves and earned another clean sheet in 99:27. She continues her tremendous stretch in goal as she now has recorded three shutouts in her last four games. She has lowered her goals against average to 1.04 and improved her saves percentage to .804 in that span.

Amy Haggard (4-7-1) made five saves and took the loss despite a strong 99:27 of action.

Both teams attempted 11 shots, and the aggressive game created 26 total fouls. CSU held a 10-5 advantage on corner kicks.

Charleston Southern is now 7-2-3 all-time against CCU, and the Buccaneers own a 5-0 mark in the last five meetings. CSU is also 5-0-1 this season in its last six games away from Buccaneer Field.

Vroman has recorded an assist in six straight games, and her seven assists this season are tied with Boyce for first in the Big South. The tandem are sitting in fifth place in school history for most assists in a single season, and Vroman is two helpers shy of her personal high of nine assists, a feat she accomplished in 2007.

Charleston Southern will take the rest of the weekend off and will begin preparations for a possible run at the Big South regular-season championship next weekend. The Buccaneers will look to improve on their four-game win streak as they play host to both Winthrop University and Gardner-Webb University. CSU will play the Eagles at 3 p.m. Oct. 29 at Buccaneer Field and will take on the Bulldogs at 7 p.m. Oct. 31 at Blackbaud Stadium in the regular season finale.

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