Bye-Nagel’s Head Wins It Again for W. Soccer, 1-0

Friday, August 29

Macon, GA

7:00 p.m.

Davidson College Athletics

2-0-0

Mercer

0-2-0

Davidson

Mercer Bears

junior Kyri Bye-Nagel kicked in her fourth game-winner of her career in Davidson's 1-0 win.

Bye-Nagel’s Head Wins It Again for W. Soccer, 1-0

8/29/2008 11:49:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Box Score

Gavin McFarlin - Assistant SID

DAVIDSON, N.C. – Junior Kyri Bye-Nagel (Hanau, Germany) scored her second straight goal in as many games with a strike in the second half and the Wildcat defense made good on the single goal by picking up their first shutout of the year as Davidson scored a 1-0 victory over host Mercer at the LQ Cup on Friday evening.

Davidson moved to 2-0 for the first time since the start of the 2000 season, while the Bears dropped to 0-2. The win was the Wildcats second straight against the Bears after they defeated MU, 3-1, at Alumni Stadium last season.

“It was a very hard fought game that we won and I'm proud of the team in battling through a night where we were fighting for every possession,” said head coach Greg Ashton. “We maintained our focus and got a great goal from Kyri there in the second half, and then buckled down on defense and shut down their attack.”

After both teams played a scoreless first half, Bye-Nagel gave Davidson the only goal it would need in the 53rd minute of the second half thanks to some solid ball movement from her teams. Starting at the mid-center field line, a penetrating pass was forwarded toward sophomore Callan Elswick (Locust Grove, Va.), who then put a move on her defender and ran the ball to a streaking junior Suzanne Sittko (Greenwood Village, Colo.) along the sideline. Sittko gathered the ball in stride and dribbled it toward the end line in the far left-hand corner. She then hit a left-footed cross into the six-yard box, where Bye-Nagel raised above the defense and headed in her second goal of the season, and 14th of her Wildcat career.

The junior forward, who was picked preseason All-Southern Conference, has scored nine goals in the past eight games dating back to the end of last season. The game-winner was Bye-Nagel's fourth of her career.

Freshman Christy Carry (Dallas, Texas), making her second career start in goal, and the defense made the 1-0 score hold up by halting an aggressive Mercer attack. A pair of late dead-ball opportunities would provide Mercer with a chance to score as Jenny Niemeier and Heather Manting both lifted free kicks into a crowded 16-yard box, but no Bears could get on the end of the free kicks, and Davidson manage to run out the clock for the win.

Davidson had a six-shot advantage (10-4) in the game and earned three corner kicks to Mercer's two.

Davidson finishes up the LQ Cup with a 12:30 p.m. contest against Kennesaw State on Sunday. The Owls were victorious in their first game of the tournament against Jackson State by the score of 3-1. Davidson has never faced Kennesaw State.

SCORING SUMMARY
53:22 DAV Kyri Bye-Nagel (Suzanne Sittko)