Gorney goal lifts SMU to shutout of Temple for first AAC win

[PonyPride]

From SMUMustangs.com:

Mustangs Top Temple 1-0 Behind Gorney Goal
SMU Outshoots Owls 15-3 In First American Athletic Conference Victory

Sept. 29, 2013

PHILADELPHIA (SMU) - The SMU Mustangs picked up their first American Athletic Conference victory by defeating Temple 1-0 at the Ambler Soccer Field on Sunday afternoon. Freshman Kelsey Gorney scored the lone goal while Lauryn Boddenpicked up the shutout.

SMU improves to 6-4-0 (1-1-0 American) while Temple falls to 6-4-1 (1-1-0). SMU outshot the Owls 15-3, including a 6-0 advantage in the second half.

Gorney got the Mustangs on the board in the 53rd minute, poking one home after receiving a cross from Courtney Smith.Rikki Clarke also recorded an assist on Gorney's fifth goal of 2013. Gorney is second on the team in scoring, and showed yet again how big of a role she can play in the SMU offense.

"She's really active and she's around the ball a lot, and that's how she's scored her goals" Head Coach Chris Petrucelli said.

SMU dominated the first half, tallying nine shots with three on goal. None of the scoring chances were converted into goals, however, with Temple goalkeeper Shauni Kerkhoff recording three saves in a scoreless first half.

Smith's assist gives her eight for the season, and moves her into a tie for seventh all-time at SMU with 25 in her career. Smith also had four shots with two on target. Shelby Redman (three) and Taylor Barg (two) were the other Mustangs with multiple shots. Bodden's shutout was her second in two starts this season and the seventh of her career.

Smith and Clarke are first and second on the team in assists, and their contributions have been critical to SMU's attack all season.

"A lot of our attack comes from Courtney in the back and Rikki through the middle," Petrucelli said. "We need them to keep putting balls in dangerous places."

Petrucelli liked what he saw from his offense on Sunday, but appreciated his defense even more.

"We won the game because we didn't give up goals," Petrucelli said. "We're excited about the progress our defense has made."

SMU's next match will be a home affair against Louisville on Thursday at 7 p.m. Tickets are available at www.smutickets.com.

[DanFreibergerForHeisman]

It's awesome to get to 1-1-0 in the AAC after what will be our longest road trip of the season.

Next week at home with Louisville and Cincinnati is going to be huge. Louisville destroyed Rutgers 4-1 today and Cincinnati was down 2-0 at Memphis and came back to win 3-2 in OT!

[DanFreibergerForHeisman]

Very very early conference standings:

2-0-0 Louisville
2-0-0 UConn
1-0-0 UCF
1-1-0 Temple
1-1-0 Cincinnati
1-1-0 SMU
1-1-0 Rutgers
0-1-0 USF
0-2-0 Memphis
0-2-0 Houston

[DanFreibergerForHeisman]

Petrucelli liked what he saw from his offense on Sunday, but appreciated his defense even more.

"We won the game because we didn't give up goals," Petrucelli said. "We're excited about the progress our defense has made."

After digesting the box score SMU held Temple without a shot in the second half - talk about some suffocating defense!