The Ashland University women's soccer team started the postseason on Sunday (Nov. 10) and earned a 1-0 win in the GLIAC Tournament quarterfinal over Davenport at Ferguson Field.
The Eagles (14-3-1), the No. 3 seed in the conference tournament, advanced to the GLIAC Tournament semifinal which will be played Friday (Nov. 15) in Allendale, Mich.
Ashland will play No. 2 seed Saginaw Valley, which beat Parkside on Sunday, 2-1. Host and No. 1 seed Grand Valley State and No. 4 seed Ferris State will play in the other semifinal.
"Top to bottom everyone gave their all today and that's what you need," said second-year head coach Taylor Clarke. "Whether it's preseason, postseason, offseason, you need everybody's best and we got that today."
On Sunday, the Eagles were in complete control in the first half and scored midway through the period. Davenport (6-9-2) misplaced a pass in its own half of the field and sophomore Makenzie Kelly intercepted it and got on a 1-v-1 situation with the Davenport keeper. Kelly clinically finished for her fifth goal of the season.
"For her to step up in a big moment is huge," said Clarke.
The Eagles out-shot the Panthers, 11-2, in the first half and maintained a 17-6 edge for the game. Ashland also held 62 percent possession.
In the second half, the Panthers were able to apply more pressure and had one great chance on a set piece, but junior keeper Hannah Lee denied Hannah Henney in the 52nd minute as she made a leaping save of a shot to the upper left 90.
Ashland's best chance in the second half came in the 78th minute, connecting three passes in the box, but a shot going across the goal mouth just missed.
Lee made three saves to keep the Eagles' seventh clean sheet of the season. Samantha Beckles stopped seven shots for Davenport.
"[The clean sheet] stemmed from a lot of our possession in the first half, but everybody's effort to getting the shutout and limiting chances is always important for how we do things," said Clarke.
Game time for the GLIAC Tournament semifinal on Friday will be announced later by Grand Valley State, and will be updated at www.GoAshlandEagles.com. The Eagles and Cardinals split two games during the regular season with SVSU winning the regular season finale on Friday, 4-2, in University Center, Mich.
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