Nov. 19, 2007

Knoxville, Tenn. - Despite enjoying a 2-0 lead at halftime, the Charlotte 49ers women's soccer team (16-5-1; A-10: 9-1-1) wrapped up the 2007 slate Friday evening, falling to ACC foe Clemson (10-5-5) in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at the University of Tennessee. The NCAA contest marked the third ever 49er appearance in program history.

"I thought our game plan was going extremely well and we were ecstatic," head coach Jon Lipsitz said. "The great irony of the game is that our players were prepared for Clemson's adjustments at halftime, which led to our greatest disappointment. We knew exactly what they were going to do and we did not handle it with enough maturity."

"Still, I think the most important thing to come out of this game is how tremendously proud I am of the program and the players. The path the Charlotte women's soccer program has taken is so exciting. You look at a group of seniors that had won five games the year before, but embraced our staff and new culture and now, we just played in the NCAA Tournament. I am so proud of our future and the accomplishments of our senior class."

Charlotte opened scoring early in the first half, as sophomore midfielder Hailey Beam corralled a corner kick from sister senior midfielder Lindsey Ozimek, nailing the ball to the back of the next from 10 yards out in the 21st minute.

Ozimek, tallying her 20th and final career goal for the 49ers, closed the 49er scoring just 17 minutes later, shooting off an assist from freshman defender Katie Davies inside the six-yard box.

Scoreless, the Tigers still carried an 8-5 edge in shots with them into halftime.

"I think we played one of our best halves of the year," Lipsitz said.

But Clemson returned from the break with an offensive explosion, tallying three goals in the first 10 minutes. Less than four minutes into the second period, Elizabeth Jobe plowed past sophomore goalkeeper Lauren Brown off a Katie Vogel corner. Courtney Foster broke away less than five minutes later, taking advantage of the one-on-one for her fifth goal of the season. Then, less than three minutes later, Julie Bolt converted a Clemson set piece from Molly Franklin, sending a shot into the right corner of the net.


The Tigers scored the final goal of the contest in the 66th minute, when Foster and Bolt combined for a breakaway and conversion from 10 yards out.

In the end, Clemson enjoyed an 18-6 shot advantage, 8-5 in shots on goal.

"A huge thank you goes to all of our fans who have followed us all over the country and to Niner Nation," Lipsitz said. "I really am just so proud to be the coach of this Charlotte women's soccer team."