Schmidtke scores twice to lift Phoenix men past Georgetown 3-0

Oct. 7—Looking to redeem their first conference loss of the season, Cumberland's men hosted Georgetown College on Wednesday.

The Phoenix found three goals in a clean sheet victory to down the Tigers at Lindsey Donnell Stadium Wednesday afternoon.

With both teams being known for their defensive solidity, the first twenty minutes only saw two shots on goal for either team, both coming for the Phoenix. The most sinister shot of the first part of the half came from a Kam Stanley free kick; as Shjon Rippy was forced to spring onto a pretty knuckleback attempt.

The Phoenix looked to be in control of the game, outshooting the Tigers 9-1 through the first 30 minutes of action. Finally locating the elusive first goal, Cumberland struck just before the break.

In the 38th minute Victor Ramirez seemingly took on the whole Tiger defense and found Philipp Schmidtke unmarked in the box. Schmidtke followed through on the shot, putting the Phoenix ahead 1-0.

Defensively, both teams were still relentless in the second half, but the Phoenix had more goals left to score. In the 72nd minute Cumberland brought on two substitutions in the form of John Azar and Philipp Schmidtke, who were the catalyst of two more CU goals.

Scoring the first of the two goals, Schmidtke added his second goal of the day. John Azar took control of the midfield when he checked in and it was his creativity that allowed him to dribble through the Tiger defense and find Schmidtke unmarked again.

Just 44 seconds later it was the same play in reverse, as John Azar was the recipient of an assist from Schmidtke for the 3-0 lead.

Cumberland would fend off the Tigers the final 10 minutes to come out with a big conference win.

In the match, the Phoenix rattled off 18 shots with nine being on goal. The Cumberland backline held Georgetown to just five shots in the match with only one on target. The match was very physical featuring 24 fouls and six yellow cards, three for either side.

Cumberland will be back in action Sunday as they play host to NCAA Division II opponent Delta State. The match is set to kick off at 3 p.m. at Lindsey Donnell Stadium/Kirk Field.

CU women clinical in front of goal in 9-0 rout of Georgetown

Coming off the back of one of their largest challenges to date, Cumberland's women hosted the Tigers of Georgetown College on Wednesday.

Their high-scoring attack continued to flow, winning by a margin of 9-0 at Lindsey Donnell Stadium.

The Phoenix scored early with Grace Morris continuing the defense's effort in the attacking third. Less than two minutes had elapsed when Cumberland won their first corner and Morris replicated Celia Rodriguez's goal from the previous game by scoring a header from the second post.

Putting high pressure on the Tigers, the Phoenix looked like they could score on any of their attacks. Although it took nearly ten more minutes, Brenna Swiger doubled the lead for CU.

Lucia Mei had space to take the ball down the left wing and as soon as a defender shifted her direction she played a delightful through ball on the ground to Swiger. Putting the assist in the back of the net, Swiger's season total of goals jumped to 13.

Making it a three-goal lead before the break, Brenda Cernas added her first assist of the day with less than 10 minutes to play. Ruling over the midfield, she used the outside of her foot to play a perfectly weighted ball, which Gabby Jones calmly passed into the bottom right corner of the goal.

Starting the second half how they did the first, it took less than a minute to find the back of the net. Defenders have been red hot in front of the goal for Cumberland and as the only member left of the usual starting back four yet to score this season, Mei finally joined the club.

Taking the Tiger's right back one-on-one, she won the challenge and was duly rewarded with a shot on goal, which she made no mistake on. Her shot beat the keeper, giving the Phoenix a 4-0 lead.

The second half had plenty more goals to give, as both Swiger and Mari Sagstad found the goal again. Sagstad poached her first goal of the day as the Tiger defense had a miscue in their clearance, and Swiger scored seconds after the kickoff that followed.

Sagstad added another goal in the 14th minute, scoring from the penalty spot to bring her total on the year to 15. She then followed up that goal with an assist to Jones just two minutes later, furthering the gap to 8-0.

Finishing up the Phoenix's offensive outburst was Hailey Burroughs, putting away a sweet double assist between Zoe Collyer and Marie Bathe. Cumberland managed 34 shots in the game and put away exactly half of their 18 shots on goal.

Cumberland will have a two-week layoff before returning to action, traveling to face off against Lindsey Wilson College. Kickoff is scheduled for Oct. 18 at 5 p.m. in Columbia, Ky.