CHARLESTON, S.C. - Toni Lashley and Allison Lewis scored first half goals for the Buccaneers as Charleston Southern held off VMI in a Big South matchup on Friday afternoon in Blackbaud Stadium as the Bucs defeated the Keydets, 2-1.
Lashley scored in the 19th minute and Lewis continued her streak with her fourth goal in four consecutive games with her shot in the 37th minute as the Buccaneers defeated VMI to pick up their second conference win of the season.
Charleston Southern improves to 5-8-1 overall on the year, 2-4 in Big South play, while VMI falls to 3-10, 1-5 in conference action with the loss.
Dana McLaughlin narrowly missed out on her third shutout of the season with four saves over the 90 minutes in facing 12 VMI shots in the contest, while Emily Marbury and Liz Nickerson stopped seven of CSU's 19 shots in the game.
Charleston Southern took the lead with their second shot of the contest at the 18:59 mark as Lashley put in her seventh goal of the season off the pass from Lewis. Lewis sent the ball into the right side of the box, allowing Lashley to clear the defense and the senior forward touched the ball ahead once before launching a shot across the field into the left side of the net past Marbury to put CSU ahead 1-0.
Lewis, in the mean time, continued her recent hot streak of play in pacing the Buccaneers with four first half shots before connecting on her fifth goal of the season at the 28:37 mark off the assist from Chelsea Phillips. Lewis' goal, her fourth in four games, started with Phillips dribbling the ball up the line nearly out of bounds to the left side of the goal before she lofted the ball back toward the middle of the field. Lewis collected and fired, with her shot deflecting off the defender and into the top of the net to double the CSU lead at 2-0.
Sydnie Bligh and Sarah Putney had two shots apiece for the Keydets, with Putney nearly crossing off the corner kick from Erica Putney at the 36:36 mark. The corner kick came directly to Sarah Putney in the box and the junior's header attempt deflected off the crossbar straight down to the feet of the CSU defense who was able to clear it before the Keydets could halve the Bucs' lead.
Putney and CSU's Kelsey Fitzhugh both had scoring opportunities right before the half, but McLaughlin stopped Putney's shot, while Fitzhugh's header sailed wide right to keep the margin at 2-0 heading into the halftime break.
The Keydets and Buccaneers battled each other through a standstill in the second half as the defenses continued to turn away both team's offensive attacks as VMI goalkeeper Liz Nickerson recorded five saves, while McLaughlin stopped two opportunities fired at her during the final 45 minutes.
Charleston Southern had several chances toward the end of the match to increase their lead, but Chelsea Frankeny and Lewis failed to connect, while Jane Vardzel's opportunity on a breakaway was stifled by Nickerson as the Bucs could not improve on their first half lead.
VMI caught a break at the end of the match as time expired in putting their lone goal of the evening on the scoreboard as Nicole Blixt's shot trickled into the back of the net at the 90:00 mark. Blixt received the pass from Baldasare and her shot attempt deflected off a CSU defender as the whistle blew signaling the end of the contest, but with the ball in motion, the play ended in the back of the net to put the final score at 2-1.
Charleston Southern is back in action at home on Wednesday afternoon as CSU hosts Winthrop in Big South action. Kickoff between the Bucs and the Eagles is set for 3 p.m.
