Women’s Soccer Takes 1-1 Draw at Charleston Southern

// BOX SCORE // UPDATED STATS (9-14-12) //

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. – Despite holding a 23-7 advantage in shots and a 15-6 lead in shots on goal, Georgia Southern Women’s Soccer could score just once in a 1-1 draw against Charleston Southern on Friday afternoon.

“To out-shoot a team and out-possess a team the way we did today and not come out ahead on the scoreboard is frustrating,” said head coach Lindsey Vanderspiegel. “We had the better of them in the run of play other than a few counterattacks. They capitalized on the one opportunity that we gave them in the first half, but we need to do a better job of putting the ball in the net.”

The draw is the third of the year for Georgia Southern who opens conference play next weekend with a 4-1-3 record outside of league play. Charleston Southern finishes the day with a 2-3-1 record.

Freshman Emily Hirano got the Eagles off the mark in the 10th minute with her first collegiate goal. After earning the first corner of the game, the ball was delivered into the box, bouncing around before finally coming to the freshman forward. She struck the ball on the volley to score the unassisted goal for a 1-0 Georgia Southern advantage.

In the 26th minute, Charleston Southern scored the equalizer as Toni Lashley scored from the top of the box on an assist from the CSU goalkeeper, Caitlin Cody. The deep goal kick found Lashley, allowing her to take the shot from the top of the box, curving into the net to tie the game, 1-1. The attack was Charleston Southern’s only scoring opportunity of the first half.

The Eagles ruled the run of play, holding a 23-7 overall advantage in shots with a 6-3 lead in the second half and a 6-1 advantage in overtime. 15 of those shots were on target, forcing the Charleston Southern goalkeeper to make 14 saves in the match.

Georgia Southern’s netminder, Katie Merson, made five saves to lift her season total to 40 saves for the year. She has a 0.58 goals against average, allowing five goals in 780 minutes between the pipes.

Georgia Southern opens Southern Conference play next weekend at home with games against Samford and Chattanooga. GSU faces the Bulldogs on Friday afternoon at 4 p.m. before the Mocs come to Eagle Field on Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m.

Fans can follow their Eagles at GeorgiaSouthernEagles.com or receive short updates at facebook.com/GSAthletics, twitter.com/GSAthletics or on Google+ at gplus.to/GSAthletics.

Category: Women's Soccer

Published on Friday, 14 September 2012 19:07