Box Score by Benny Benton
LAURINBURG, N.C.–Barton College sophomore Jodi Barber scored a pair of goals to lead the Lady Bulldogs past St. Andrews University, 2-0, in a non-conference women's soccer match Tuesday afternoon at rain-soaked Knights Field.
Barber, last week's Conference Carolinas Player of the Week, continued her strong play by connecting on goals in the 36th and 84th minute. The sophomore from Maysville, N.C., now has six goals and 16 points for the season, both second-best in the conference.
Freshman Kathryn Smith recorded her first collegiate assists, providing helpers on both goals. Lindsay Rembecki also was credited with an assist on the first goal, her first of the season.
The Lady Bulldogs received five saves from junior keeper Carson Moore, who posted her fifth shutout of the season and the 10th of her career.
The win helped Barton improve to 7-4 on the season. The Lady Bulldogs have won seven of their last nine. St. Andrews, a member of the NAIA Appalachian Athletic Conference, slipped to 3-9 on the year with their sixth straight loss.
Barton had 20 shots in the match, 10 of those on goal, while the Knights posted 10 shots, including the five on goal stopped by Moore. Jessica Griffith had eight saves in a losing cause for St. Andrews.
Barton took five of the first six shots in the contest, including two by Amanda Almonte in the first five minutes. But only an attempt by Smith found the frame, and it was saved by Griffith.
St. Andrews had three corner kicks in the first 11 minutes, but was unable to create an opportunity off of those.
The Knights had their best chance to score in the 28th minute, when they produced a trio of good attempts. Sophomore Jessica Martinez, St. Andrews' top goal scorer from last season, fired an attempt that was saved by Moore. Less than 30 seconds later, Rebecca Harper rocked the crossbar with a shot, and Nicole Bass fired another attempt off the rebound that was saved by Moore.
Eight minutes later, Barber put Barton into the lead with her first goal, which came off touches from Smith and Rembecki.
Both teams came out firing to start the second half. The two sides had combined for just 12 shots in the entire first period, but produced half that many in the first 15 minutes of the second half. Four of the six shots were on goal, equaling the total of the first period, but all were stopped by the respective keepers.
Barton then turned up the heat even more, producing a flurry of attempts. In the 63rd minute, Ashley Batchelor had a shot knocked down along the goal line by a defender, and a follow-up shot off the rebound by Jessica Lime was saved by Griffith. Fifteen seconds later, Griffith recorded another save on an attempt by Emily Futral. Batchelor had two more shots over the next two minutes, the first off the post and the second missing high.
From there, the defenses took charge, with just one shot recorded over the next 10 minutes of play.
However, Barber would get the offensive attack going again for Barton with 15 minutes to play, firing a trio of shots over roughly a seven-minute span. The first attempt was saved by Griffith and the second shot was high, but the third one found its mark with 6:54 to play, giving the Lady Bulldogs some cushion for the final stretch.
Barton returns to Conference Carolinas action on Saturday with a visit to Belmont, N.C., to face a Belmont Abbey College program that won the league tournament last season and played in the NCAA Division II Tournament. The match is slated for a 1 p.m. start.
