Louisiana defeats Monroe 1-0 for first home win of the season
LOUISIANA La. - Tiffany Garber received a pass from * Brown and lifted a shot past UL at Monroe goalkeeper Jessica Robinson 4:22 into the first overtime for the match-winning goal as Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns women's soccer team began its three-match homestand with a 1-0 win over ULM here Sunday afternoon at Cajun Field.
The goal was Garber's fourth of the season and third match-winner - giving her the match-winning goal in the Cajuns last three wins. The assist was Brown's second of the season.
With the win, the Cajuns improved their best start in the brief four-year history of the program to 4-2 and earned their first home win of the season.
Brown dribbled in the center of the box and quickly tapped a pass over to a wide-open Garber on the left wing who then one-timed a shot past Robinson to her left side for the score.
Garber's golden goal came at the 94:22 mark of the match and helped the Cajuns snap a three-match losing streak at Cajun Field and ended UL's Cajun Field scoring drought at 361:06.
The goal was the Cajuns first on their home field since a penalty kick goal by Sara Vienberg at 3:16 of the North Texas match Oct. 18, 2002. - a span of four matches.
"This was a great result for us," said UL coach Dave Poggi. "I had no doubt in my mind that when we went back out for overtime that we were going to put forth the energy and effort that we needed to get a win.
"In the end it was our character and resolve that made the difference," Poggi added.
Both teams had scoring opportunities well before overtime set in.
Garber, who ended the match with seven shots to tie her own record, hit the crossbar in the third minute of the first half and in the waning minutes of the half a header by Meredith Smith off of a free kick from Sherryl Owens sailed wide right.
ULM (1-4-1) had its chances in the opening frame as well. In the 32nd minute, Julia McVarish had UL goalkeeper Anna Brannon beat in a one-on-one situation but her shot just missed as it skimmed the edge of the right post and bounced out-of-bounds.
The second half featured another array of near-misses on both sides.
ULM opened the half with a shot from Allison Matson hitting the crossbar in the 46th minute while Garber had a great chance for the Cajuns in the 65th minute but her shot bounced along the goal line just long enough for an Indians defender to push it out of harms way.
The Indians would fire off two shots in the final 30 seconds but the Cajuns used a team effort to turn away the first shot while the second was wide.
"There were some players who had big games today, (Tiffany) Garber being one of them," Poggi said, "But there were others who played hard defense to help prevent them (ULM) from scoring especially in the final seconds of regulation.
"I thought the whole team stepped up defensively today and I was pleased with the effort."
Brannon, a true freshman who starred at nearby Acadiana High, collected the clean sheet for the Cajuns making five saves in her second start. It was her first career shutout and the Cajuns second as a team this season.
UL out-shot the visitors 15-14 while each team had six shots on goal. The two teams combined for 18 shots in the second frame after generating just seven combined in the opening half.
MATCH SUMMARY
Louisiana-Monroe at Louisiana-Lafayette
Date: Sept. 14, 2003
Site:, La. (Cajun Field)
Att: 192 Time: 2:00
Goals by Period 1 2 OT Total
UL Monroe (1-4-1) 0 0 0 0
UL (4-2) 0 0 1 1
SCORING SUMMARY:
1. 94:22 UL Garber, Tiffany (Brown, *)
Shots: UL Monroe 14, UL 15
Shots on Goal: UL Monroe 6, UL 6
Saves: UL Monroe 5 (Robinson 4, TEAM 1), UL 6 (Brannon 5, TEAM
1)
Fouls: UL Monroe 17, UL 8
Corner Kicks: UL Monroe 3, UL 3
Offsides: UL Monroe 6, UL 6
LOUISNANA SI