Converse finishes strong with Begley goal

Charlotte, NC – The Converse All-Stars were forced to battle Belmont Abbey and their 26 game CVAC winning streak with a player down Sunday afternoon and it proved too much for Converse, eventually falling 4-1.

The All-Stars came into the game on the back of a poor performance mid-week against Limestone and will once again lament a slow start where they found themselves down 3-0 with 20 minutes gone after three costly mistakes. From that point on Converse battled in every area of the game and the frustration was evident on the faces of the Belmont Abbey coaches and players.

Converse seemed poised to mount their comeback when Sam Chapman (Spartanburg, SC)was hauled down from behind when bearing down on the goalkeeper but was fouled from behind inside the box and the defender was inexplicably only shown a yellow card and the ball was placed outside the box. The disappointment would mount with Converse falling behind 4-0 minutes later as players were still seemingly distracted by the preceding events.

The match would then turn as Chapman was sent off for a mysterious second yellow card much to her and her team’s bemusement and Converse would be left to face Belmont Abbey with only 10 players for the rest of the match.

It would be Converse that would finish the game the strongest as Mallory Begley (Summerville, SC) scored her first career goal with a first-time volley from a corner that gave the keeper no chance. Converse pushed forward in the hope of another goal but the game finished with a 4-1 scoreline and Belmont Abbey’s streak in tact.

In goal, Brandi Criscitiello recorded 7 saves and was protected from the potent attack by Samoria Roundtree (Shaw AFB) and Blake Hallman (York, SC) who had their best games of the season.

Converse returns to action Wednesday as they face Pfeiffer College, NC at 4pm on the campus of Converse College.