Women's Soccer Drops Match at Georgia State, 2-0

ATLANTA, Ga. – The Georgia Southern women’s soccer team was unable to catch up after trailing Georgia State at the half, and the Panthers held on for the non-conference victory, Sunday afternoon, 2-0, at the Panthersville Athletics Complex.

The loss marks the third-consecutive defeat for the Eagles (0-3-0) after a tough three-game road trip. Meanwhile, the Panthers improve to 4-1-1 on the season.

The Panthers jumped out to an early 1-0 lead at the 9:32 mark when Georgia State’s Karli Klein connected off Stephanie Cuccia’s corner and headed the ball into the top right corner.

Georgia Southern’s best scoring opportunity in the first half came off the foot of defender Heather Smith (Kingwood, Texas) who led the team in shots (2) on the day. But her shot at the 6:42 mark was stopped by Megan Macdonald.

In the 36th minute the Panthers found the back of the net a second time in similar fashion to their first. Cuccia delivered a corner kick into the middle and teammate Klein used her head to knock in her second goal of the day.

The Panthers led the Eagles 2-0 going into the break, also leading in corner kicks (4-1) and shots (7-3).

In the second frame, Georgia Southern continued to push forward their attack, increasing their shots twofold. Heather Smith initiated the attack with a shot in the 50th minute, but Georgia State’s Heidi Blankenship made the save.

Following suit were juniors Susanne Rogers (Augusta, Ga.) and Ashley Toussaint (Warner Robins, Ga.) firing a pair of shots that ricocheted off the crossbar (60:49) and the post (77:25), respectively.

But the Panthers managed to avert Georgia Southern’s attack for the remainder of the match and held on for the 2-0 win.

Georgia State led the Eagles in total corner kicks by a 6-1 margin, and in total shots, 14-9.

“Overall I was pleased with how we played,” said head coach Ashley Hart. “I think we need to learn to stay mentally focused on corners. Defensively, I think we were more organized than we had been in the past two weeks. We created some opportunities. Overall we played well today, but we weren’t able to finish our chances.”

“Georgia State is a very good team,” said Hart. “But I was proud of our defenders for shutting down their dangerous players. We just need to make sure we’re better organized on set plays.”

The Eagles were credited with three team saves thanks to a strong defense.

In goal, senior Laura-Ashley Harris (Jonesboro, Ga.) made four saves as she captained the cage for a full 90 minutes.

“Laura-Ashley did a good job stepping up,” said Hart. “Her leadership was important and she did a good job leading in the back.”

After a tough three-game road trip, the Eagles will return back to Statesboro for a three-game home-spell at Eagle Field, first facing Mercer, Friday, Sep. 14. Then on Sep. 19, Georgia Southern will open up Southern Conference play hosting The Citadel at 2 p.m. The Blue and White will finish the homestand hosting former SoCon member Marshall, Sep. 21 at 4 p.m.

Category: Women's Soccer

Published on Sunday, 09 September 2007 00:18