SPARTANBURG. – One couldn’t have envisioned a better opening night for new head coach Matt Smith than what the Presbyterian College women’s soccer team delivered on Thursday under the lights, a 3-2 thriller over arch-rival Wofford with some late-game theatrics spiced in for extra flair.
Trailing 2-1 with barely 20 minutes of action left, the Blue Hose unleashed a pair of strikes within two minutes of each other to rapidly flip the script and pick up a program-altering win in the process.
Career victory number 81 for Smith will go down as one of the sweetest, authoring PC’s first win in a season-opener since the abbreviated Spring 2021 campaign in Clinton.
Furthermore, the Blue Hose grabbed their first W over the Terriers since 2018, with Lina-Marie Müller, Lindsey Malyszek, and Emilia Lieber offering up the team’s three goals.
For Smith, Thursday goes down as his 30th all-time win as a head coach over a school from the state of South Carolina, and his second win against Wofford as a member of PC’s staff (he was an assistant coach back in 2009 when the Scotsmen downed their in-state foe 1-0).
FINAL SCORE: Presbyterian, 3 – Wofford, 2
RECORDS: Presbyterian (1-0) – Wofford (0-1)
LOCATION: Snyder Field (Spartanburg, S.C.)
COACH SMITH’S THOUGHTS
“It was a great performance from our players tonight. We came out with a great attitude and kept our mentality throughout the entire match. It’s always a proud moment for a coach when your team can pull themselves up from behind and get a win on the road against a quality opponent.”
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Echoing Smith’s sentiment regarding Presby’s determined outlook, the visitors weren’t deterred by an early Wofford score at the 19:22 stamp, evidenced by a response less than two minutes later from Müller.
- Junior Isabel Lasota served up the assist on the play – the second helper of her career – which brought the tally to one apiece at the halftime break.
- The second period heavily resembled the first, in that the Terriers stayed ahead until the counter strike by the Blue Hose came even fiercer.
- With 23 and-a-half minutes to go, Malyszek launched a perfect ball past Wofford keeper Rylee Godbold, hitting from a deep distance to tie up the affair for the second time.
- It would only stay a stalemate for two minutes and 11 seconds, as newbie Allie Williams found Lieber for her first goal in a Presbyterian uniform and ultimately the game-sealer.
- For the night, coach Smith’s crew out-shot the Terriers by a 13-8 clip. Half of their six shots-on-goal connected with the back of the net, preventing the home side from evening the odds over the final 22 minutes.
- Senior goalie Kelly Hall snuffed out a Wofford corner kick at the 78:29 mark, with the Terriers’ last attempt of the night falling wide right with just over seven minutes remaining.
UP NEXT
- Surrounded by a newfound confidence after claiming their first season-opening win away from home in seven years, the Blue Hose will compete inside Martin Stadium in three days’ time for the first of eight bouts in their own backyard.
- Standing in their way will be another Palmetto adversary: College of Charleston, whom PC hasn’t tangled with since 2017.
- Saddled with just two wins a season ago, the Cougars made a big statement on Thursday by opening their journey with a 7-0 blowout over South Carolina State. That entailed four second-half darts and a ridiculous shot differential of 31-2.
- First touch on Sunday is set for 2:00 PM, televised on ESPN+.
