by Russell Vannozzi | Sep 17, 2018 | News Slider, Sports
Lipscomb women’s soccer coach Kevin O’Brien typically schedules several Power 5 opponents to help the Lady Bisons prepare for ASUN play. However, sometimes his team plays the spoiler role against unsuspecting opponents. Such was the case Sunday night as the Lady Bisons topped Kentucky by a score of 2-1 at the Lipscomb Soccer Complex. “For us, any time we get to play a Power 5, it’s a special thing,” O’Brien said. “We don’t win all of them, that’s for darn sure. But whenever we get a Power 5 win, that’s pretty special.” The win is Lipscomb’s first over an SEC opponent since beating Mississippi State on August 26, 2016. Lipscomb went 0-3-1 against SEC teams in 2017, including a 2-1 loss at Kentucky last September. “We’ve got a squad that doesn’t fear anybody,” O’Brien said. “[Bigger schools] might have more blue-chip recruits or athleticism, but in the end, a lot of it is about heart, determination and a willingness to work for each other.” The Lady Bisons got on the board just eight minutes into the game when defender Hailey Eck looped a pass to Maycie McKay, who sidestepped Kentucky goalkeeper Hannah Leonard and finished an easy chip shot. “We’ve switched [McKay] from being a winger to more out an out-and-out forward, and she’s doing great,” O’Brien said. “She’s composed around the goal and finishes her chances.” Kentucky (4-6) knotted the score at one with a goal from Miranda Jimenez in the 40th minute. The Wildcats thoroughly dominated the first half and outshot Lipscomb 11-2. But the Lady Bisons (5-3-2) kept the Wildcats from scoring again, thanks to six saves from...
by Russell Vannozzi | Sep 10, 2018 | News Slider, Sports
It took dealing with a slippery pitch, firing 18 shots and battling through an overtime period, but the Lipscomb women’s soccer team refused to be denied a home win Sunday afternoon. Forward Olivia Doak fed a pass to teammate Maycie McKay, who slid the ball past Miami Ohio goalie Patricia Koutoulas to give the Lady Bisons a 3-2 overtime victory. “(McKay) made that run seven or eight teams and didn’t get rewarded with the ball,” Lipscomb coach Kevin O’Brien said. “Sometimes you can get discouraged and quit (trying) it, so I was grateful and proud that she kept chipping away.” The shot was McKay’s only attempt of the day, but it was all she needed to score her first goal of the season at the most opportune time. “We had a lot of people in the box at the end,” McKay said. “We almost got one early on (in overtime), and that just drove us to keep going and keep pushing.” Miami (2-3-1) took the initial lead on tally from freshman Lyda Bogadanovtich in the 40th minute, but Lipscomb’s Selah Gilmore answered with a goal of her own just three minutes later. In the second half, Lipscomb defender Logan McFadden finished a header from Doak to give the Bisons a 2-1 lead. The goal was McFadden’s second of her freshman campaign. “We knew recruiting her that she had the ability to step in and play right away,” O’Brien said of McFadden. “She can still grow in her technical ability and her decisions on the ball, but…the fact that she’s contributing on the offensive side is gravy.” But Miami made things...
by Russell Vannozzi | Sep 7, 2018 | News Slider, Sports
The Lipscomb men’s soccer team is in a bit of an offensive funk. Following road losses to South Carolina and Georgia State, the Bisons dropped a 1-0 contest to visiting San Diego Thursday evening. “It’s a disappointing loss, it’s a heartbreaker,” Lipscomb coach Charles Morrow said. “From that standpoint, it’s a difficult game to stomach.” Lipscomb fired 11 total shots, five of which were on target, but was unable to find the back of the net. The Bisons have managed just two goals during their three-game skid. “It’s still early in the season and we’re not as sharp in front of the net as we’d like to be,” Morrow said. “We are optimistic that (the goals) will come, and when they do, I think we’ll see them in bunches.” San Diego’s lone tally in the 66th minute proved to be enough for a victory. Torero forward Reuben Dass took advantage on a counter attack and deposited a shot into the upper-left corner of the net after the ball appeared to deflect off Lipscomb goalkeeper Chris Zappia. “(The team) had one bad moment and got caught on a counter,” Morrow said. “We’ve got to find a way to eliminate that kind of thing from happening. But we had plenty of opportunities to put a goal away and just couldn’t find one.” Lipscomb freshman Scott Gulden slid a ball past San Diego’s Matt Wiher, only to have the goal waved off for a foul. Ryan Dougherty, Logan Paynter and John Wynia each had scoring chances in the second half, but none were able to get by Wiher. Lipscomb took a thrilling...
by Russell Vannozzi | Sep 6, 2018 | BREAKING NEWS, News Slider, Sports
Marshall County High School basketball standout K.J. Johnson is bringing his talents to Green Hills. The highly-coveted combo guard announced his commitment to Lipscomb via Twitter Wednesday evening. “After praying and talking it over with my family, I would like to announce that I will be staying home and furthering my education and basketball career at Lipscomb University,” Johnson said in the tweet. According to HoopSeen, coach Casey Alexander and his staff made Johnson a top priority. The Bisons recently offered Johnson a scholarship, and he quickly jumped on the chance to play approximately 50 miles from his Lewisburg home. The 6-foot-2 guard had offers from Morehead State, North Alabama, Tennessee Tech and UT Martin, in addition to interest from Murray State, ETSU and Western Kentucky. Johnson was named Tennessee’s Class AA Mr. Basketball after averaging 31.4 points, 3.9 assists and 2.1 steals for Marshall County last season. He then drew more college attention while starring for the Elite Amateur Basketball Club on the AAU circuit this summer. KJ Johnson with 44 here at #BIGSHOTS #RockyTop pic.twitter.com/d3xgBFrgp5 — BIG SHOTS Midwest (@BigShotsMW) April 8, 2018 Johnson joins forward Jacob Hobbs as the second commitment of Lipscomb’s 2019 recruiting class. Hobbs, who hails from Cecilia, Kentucky, gave his pledge to the Bisons in August. Hobbs and Johnson will help replace Garrison Mathews, Nathan Moran, Eli Pepper and Rob Marberry, who are each entering their final season of eligibility. Photo courtesy of HoopSeen.com Thank you god. ???? pic.twitter.com/V73pT4hnIW — Kj Johnson ? (@_glo_boy_3) September 5,...
by Russell Vannozzi | Aug 23, 2018 | BREAKING NEWS, News Slider, Sports
Fresh off its first-ever NCAA basketball tournament appearance, the Lipscomb men’s basketball team announced its 2018-19 schedule Thursday. The slate features 29 total contests, including 14 home games and six away games within a four-hour-drive of Nashville. The non-conference schedule will be challenging as the Bisons make trips to SMU (Nov. 18), TCU (Nov. 20), Louisville (Dec. 12) and Clemson (Dec. 30). Eight of Lipscomb’s non-conference foes finished higher than the Bisons in the final 2018 Pomeroy Ratings. “We talked to the team about how great it is to have expectations placed upon us, but at the same time, we showed them eight of our nonconference opponents who were better than us last year,” coach Casey Alexander said in a release provided by Lipscomb’s athletic department. “We have plenty of work to do.” Alexander also scheduled several local opponents for non-conference matchups. The Bisons will host Sewanne (Nov. 6), Tennessee State (Nov. 10) and rival Belmont (Nov. 15) to open the season, before traveling to Morehead State (Nov. 25), Middle Tennessee (Dec. 1) and Belmont (Dec. 4). The Bisons’ date with the Blue Raiders will be the first time the two teams have met since 2007. Middle Tennessee has appeared in two of the last three NCAA tournaments, including a shocking, 90-81 upset of No. 2-seeded Michigan State in 2016. “I am really excited we were able to get something worked out with Middle Tennessee,” Alexander said. “I have great respect for what they’ve done as probably the best program in the state of Tennessee over the last few years.” Other non-conference home games include Covenant (Dec. 17), Vermont...
