Box Score by Benny Benton
WILSON, N.C. – Although the Barton College women's soccer program officially held Senior Day last weekend, its three seniors decided Wednesday night to have a second celebration. Emily Futral, Ashley Batchelor and Kelsey Rothwell all scored as the Lady Bulldogs rolled to a 4-0 non-conference victory over visiting Chowan University.
The triumph gave Barton (6-5-3) a sweep of its two meetings with the Hawks (1-11-1) and ended a four-match winless skid (0-3-1) for the Lady Bulldogs.
Barton controlled play throughout, enjoying a 38-2 edge in total shots. Neither attempt for Chowan was on-frame, meaning BC keepers Allison Bell and Haley Sauls did not have to record a save in posting the combined shutout. Bell, a junior transfer, earned the win in goal, her first decision as a Lady Bulldog.
Futral, Barton's leading scorer for the season, hit the right post with the very first shot attempt of the match less than four minutes into play, and narrowly missed high on her second try near the eight-minute mark. The third time proved to be the charm, as she took a pass in the 12th minute from Taylor Doeble on the right wing, spun and fired past Chowan keeper Marissa Ghani into the left corner of the net for her ninth goal of the season.
Despite an 18-1 advantage in shots in the opening half, Barton did not score again in the period. Junior transfer Tanya Garcia had a great look bounce off the left post in the 26th minute, and Ghani recorded eight first-half saves to keep the Lady Bulldogs from getting further ahead.
Barton finally broke through again in the 56th minute when junior Kelly Dolan fired a pass from the right wing to Batchelor off the right post. Batchelor, a hometown standout for Hunt High School, finished the play with a shot inside the left post for her third goal of the year.
The Lady Bulldogs tacked on two more goals in the final 10 minutes. Rothwell, normally the team's starting goalkeeper, played in the field against Chowan and collected her first collegiate goal in the 81st minute following a cross from Nikki Helton and close-range pass from Aryanna Fahnestock. The assist was the first of the year for Helton, and the first in the career of the freshman Fahnestock.
Just over two minutes later, sophomore Christina Everett collected her first collegiate assist as well, making a pass from the left corner to junior Giselle Dominguez on the left wing. Dominguez fired a shot just over the head of Ghani and under the crossbar to put the finishing touches on Barton's 4-0 win.
Ghani had 11 saves in the contest for Chowan to keep Barton from doing even more damage, and the Lady Bulldogs stopped themselves at times with seven offsides calls.
The contest ended a grueling stretch of four matches in seven days for the Lady Bulldogs. Barton won't have any time to rest, however, as it will host Emmanuel College in its final home match of the season Saturday at 1 p.m. The match will be held as part of Homecoming Weekend on campus.
