by Russell Vannozzi | Nov 15, 2018 | News Slider, Sports
Mississippi State assistant women’s soccer coach Josh Rife sent Lipscomb coach Kevin O’Brien a prescient text message after the Lady Bisons defeated North Alabama for the ASUN championship on Nov. 3. “Hope we don’t have to play you guys in the NCAA’s,” Rife wrote O’Brien. As luck would have it, Lipscomb and Mississippi State were paired as first-round opponents for the NCAA tournament last week. And Rife, who played with O’Brien on the USL’s Charlotte Eagles the early 2000s, was certainly on to something with his hunch about the strength of the Lady Bisons. “It was really ironic and funny,” O’Brien said of the message and the draw. “And obviously, it turned out to be great.” Lipscomb used an unlikely free kick from midfield to shock Mississippi State with 1-0 upset in the final minute of Golden Goal overtime last Friday. The victory advanced the Lady Bisons (15-4-2) to a second-round date with Duke on Friday morning in Washington, D.C. “The moment was kind of surreal,” O’Brien said. “We had kind of set our lineup for penalty kicks. You’re thinking with a minute on the clock [that] you’re definitely going into the penalty [kicks].” On the free kick, Lipscomb defender Dominique Diller sent a prayer into the box from midfield, hoping for a lucky bounce. The ball ricocheted off the head of Lipscomb Justis Bailey and to the foot of Kaitlin Echols, who quickly touched the ball into the back of the net, although Bailey was initially credited with the goal. “Kaitlin actually got a flick on it,” O’Brien said. “You can see if you watch the video back,...
by Russell Vannozzi | Nov 14, 2018 | News Slider, Sports
Losing seven games in a row typically doesn’t equate to a championship season, especially when a team’s schedule only includes 16 regular season games. However, that narrative exactly describes how the Lipscomb men’s soccer season played out. Despite a forgettable start, the Bisons are in Seattle to make their second-consecutive NCAA tournament appearance on Thursday night against Washington. “Looking back at the season… it was all fun,” Lipscomb coach Charles Morrow said at Monday’s NCAA selection show watch party. “That’s something we sort of preach in our program. This is a game and it’s meant to be fun, but there were some trying days in that stretch. For the guys to have the resiliency and perseverance that they did was really, really impressive.” The Bisons went 1-7 in their first eight games, including a seven-match skid that began in August and continued until late September. “It was a rough start,” Lipscomb senior forward Logan Paynter said. “[We had] a lot of new guys and knew it wasn’t going to be easy, so we just knew we had to keep learning and keep growing.” The tough beginning was somewhat expected after losing 10 seniors to graduation, including key cogs like forwards Ivan Alvarado and Ivan Sakou, midfielders Eduardo Reza and Kyle Smith, and defenders Cameron Botes and Joe Kerridge. But there were some silver linings during that losing streak. Five of the seven losses were by just one goal each, and two of the defeats came in overtime to No. 7 Kentucky and Jacksonville. “Coming out of last year and losing 10 guys, you know there’s going to be a...
by Russell Vannozzi | Nov 12, 2018 | News Slider, Sports
The Lipscomb men’s soccer team is heading the Pacific Northwest for its second NCAA tournament appearance. During Monday’s NCAA Selection Show, the Bisons learned that their first-round opponent will be the Washington Huskies. The match is set for Thursday at 9:00 p.m. CT in Seattle. “It’s great to still be going and still be a part of all of this,” Lipscomb senior forward Logan Paynter said. “I haven’t been to the Pacific Northwest and I don’t know much about [Washington], but [I’m] super excited to get out there and go play a game.” Lipscomb (9-9) began its season with a dismal 1-7 record, but the team made a miraculous turnaround to win eight of their final 10 matches. That stretch included upsets of No. 10 Louisville and No. 24 Florida Gulf Coast. In Saturday night’s ASUN title game, the Bisons defeated Stetson, 2-0. Paynter set the school record for goals by scoring the 34th and 35th tallies of his career. Lipscomb dropped a 2-0 contest at Butler in its NCAA tournament debut last season. Lipscomb coach Charles Morrow said he believes the lessons learned from that loss will help the Bisons in their second-straight postseason appearance. “[Butler] was a team that could have gotten a bye in the first round,” Morrow said. “I think that, while Washington will be just as strong, I really feel like the guys have more belief and more confidence in themselves this year.” Washington (12-7) is making its sixth NCAA tournament appearance under coach Jamie Clark, and the Huskies have a 12-23-2 all-time record in tournament play. Senior forward Scott Menzies leads the team with nine goals....
by Spencer Boehme | Nov 11, 2018 | News Slider, Sports
For the second time in as many years, the Lipscomb men’s soccer team is going to the NCAA tournament. In a brutally cold match at the Lipscomb Soccer Complex, the one-seeded Bisons beat the six-seeded Stetson Hatters by a score of 2-0 on Saturday night. It was a big moment for head coach Charles Morrow, who happily celebrated a Gatorade bath and posed for trophy pictures with his team after the game. “It’s real good to be back here again and get another crack at trying to move on, and get to the NCAA tournament and see what we can do there,” Morrow said. Redshirt senior forward Logan Paynter scored two goals and received the ASUN Tournament MVP. To make the night even more memorable, Paynter set Lipscomb’s program record for career goals by scoring the 34th and 35th tallies of his career. “My teammates did amazing to get me the ball in those spots,” Paynter said. “And, I mean we played such a great game all around, every single player.” Paynter’s first goal came in the 39th minute. It appeared that Stetson goalie Braeden Luna would recover the ball off a slow bounce, but it instead went past him and into the net, giving Lipscomb a 1-0 lead. In the 53rd minute, redshirt sophomore midfielder Ben Locke passed the ball to Paynter, who outran his defender and booted it past Luna for the second and final tally of the night. “I sure do hope we’re going to work hard to showcase what he can do in the NCAA tournament and showcase what he can do [for] pro teams,”...
by Russell Vannozzi | Nov 10, 2018 | News Slider, Sports
The Lipscomb and Mississippi State women’s soccer teams entered uncharted territory in Starkville Friday evening. The two programs were both making their first-ever NCAA tournament appearances, but it was the Lady Bisons that pulled out a stunning, 1-0 victory in Golden Goal to advance to the second round. Neither team scored in regulation or overtime, forcing the match to go into sudden-death overtime. Lipscomb junior defender Dominique Diller launched a free kick from midfield, and the ball found its way through several players and into the box. The pass then bounced off the head of senior Justis Bailey and into the net. GOLDEN. GOAL.#NCAASoccer pic.twitter.com/HjeeSvSiWm — NCAA Soccer (@NCAASoccer) November 10, 2018 Bailey had her back turned to the kick and was simply in the right place at the right time. The goal set off a wild celebration as the Lady Bisons became Lipscomb’s first team to advance to the second round of the NCAA tournament in any sport. Senior goalkeeper Kate Mason made seven saves for her ninth clean sheet of the season. The ASUN Goalie of the Year also made a highlight-reel save to keep the game scoreless with 22 minutes remaining. .What.A.Play… this merits a replay & @SportsCenter #Top10 play consideration! ? #SCtop10 #Saveoftheweek ? by @kateemasonn #FullStretch #Ncaasoccer #CollegeCup @espnW @nwslville @NWSL @NCAASoccer @LipscombWSOC @LipscombBisons #SecondRound here we come! pic.twitter.com/S5xhJHCeio — Shannon O'Brien (@ObShannon) November 10, 2018 Lipscomb will take on Duke in the second round of the tournament. The game is set for Friday, Nov. 16 in Washington, D.C. Start time and television information have yet to be...
