WILSON, N.C. – The Barton women's soccer team (4-3-1) opened the 2021 Conference Carolinas Championship with a 4-1 victory over Southern Wesleyan (1-9-1) Wednesday afternoon in Pool Play B at Electric Supply Company Field and Truist Stadium.
Barton junior defender
Hailey Russell (Jacksonville, N.C.) tallied a goal and an assist for the seventh-seeded Bulldogs, who now will travel to Murfreesboro, N.C., to take on second-seeded Chowan (7-1-1) on Sunday at 1:00 p.m., as pool play continues. The Warriors were the 10th seed in the tournament.
Russell found freshman forward
Lexis Goldberg (Sanford, N.C.) on a long pass down the left side from the middle of the field to open the scoring at the 22:07 mark for the Bulldogs. Russell then made it a 2-0 score just two minutes after halftime with a shot from about 30 yards out. Russell leads the team in goals scored (five) and total points (12).
After Southern Wesleyan cut the margin in half in the 57th minute thanks to a header in the box by Bryanna Pickens (Easley, S.C.) off a corner kick from Molly Wanning (Greenwood, S.C.), Barton responded just three minutes later when junior forward
Brenna Keegan (Huntley, Ill.) headed in a deflected cross for her first goal of the year.
Senior forward
Kylie Bowers (Bensalem, Pa.) rounded out the scoring at the 88:28 mark of the contest with her second goal of the season for the Bulldogs, who held a 32-9 edge in shots taken. Barton senior goalkeeper
Megan Bolick (Salisbury, N.C.) stopped six shots and picked up the win while Southern Wesleyan's Samantha Benner (North Augusta, S.C.) suffered the loss in goal despite nine saves on the afternoon.
