Box Score PINEVILLE, N.C.- It was a battle of two WildCat teams on Wednesday night. Randolph squared off against Johnson and Wales in a non-conference match. Sara Bane's (Blue Ridge, Va./Lord Botetourt) goal in the 87th minute broke a 1-1 tie to put the Randolph WildCats up for good and give them a 2-1 victory.
The win snaps the 'Cats three-match winless streak and improves them to 5-3. Johnson and Wales falls to 2-4.
Randolph had possession in the Johnson and Wales zone in the early moments of the first half. In the 7th minute, Mary Dorman (Lynchburg, Va./Jefferson Forest) passed to Alaina Gembach (Lebanon, Va./Abingdon) who beat the keeper on the right and put it in to give the visiting WildCats a 1-0 lead.
The 'Cats looked for more but Johnson and Wales goalkeeper Kylie Priddy would not let that happen. The host WildCats got the equalizer at 36:44 to tie the contest at 1-1.
In the second half, Gembach nearly put Randolph ahead but her shot hit off of the crossbar. At the 65 minute mark of the game, the 'Cats were granted a penalty kick but Sam Paulette's (Appomattox, Va./Appomattox County) attempt missed the mark and Marle King's (Roanoke, Va./Patrick Henry) shot off of the rebound was high.
Starting Randolph goalkeeper Zoe Waring (Chesapeake, Va./Hickory) made key stops in the net to keep the game tied. With 3:11 to play, Bane found herself one-on-one with Priddy and was able to sneak a shot past her for the game winner. Johnson and Wales tried to hurry to get a shot off in the closing seconds but the Randolph defense prevented to secure the win.
Waring finished with three saves for Randolph. Priddy stopped 10 Randolph shots.
Randolph had a 20-7 advantage in total shots and 12-4 in shots on goal. Corner kicks were in Randolph's favor 4-1.
The WildCats return to Old Dominion Athletic Conference play on Saturday as they travel to Roanoke. Game time is at 2:00 p.m.
