Magical Run for Georgia Southern Women’s Soccer Ends at Wake Forest

// BOX SCORE (PDF) // UPDATED STATS (PDF) //

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Georgia Southern Women’s Soccer was eliminated from the NCAA Tournament after putting up a valiant fight to keep one of the nation’s best teams scoreless for almost an hour. Third-seeded Wake Forest, however, scored four unanswered goals to advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament and best the Eagles who made their first appearance in the NCAA Tournament.

“I’m so proud of this team,” said Head Coach Lindsey Vanderspiegel. “We took a tough loss today, but that doesn’t take away from our Southern Conference Championship and all that we’ve accomplished as a team. I’m so proud to have coached these seniors, they’ve been the cornerstone of turning around this program and the success we’ve had. We’ll miss them, but they are part of more than just their senior year, they are part of the foundation for the future success that this program is going to have.”

The Eagles focused on their defense in the match, keeping their scoreless run alive for the first 59 minutes of the match. The Deacons scored 59:08 into the evening when Marissa Park found Katie Stengel for her eighth goal of the season. That goal snapped a run of 461:55 by goalkeeper Katie Merson without allowing a goal.

Wake Forest added two more in short order as Park and Rachel Nuzzolese scored in the 64th and 65th minutes, respectively. Stengel added her second goal of the evening and the fourth for the hosts in the 79th minute.

The Eagle offense offered just one official shot, an attempt on frame by senior Carlee Storey in the 61st minute. Merson made six saves to close her junior campaign, withstanding a barrage of 25 shots by Wake Forest.

Georgia Southern ends the 2012 season at 10-8-5 with the program’s first SoCon Championship.

“Making the NCAA tournament was a tremendous experience for our entire team,” said Vanderspeigel. “For our freshmen to get this experience in their first season is going to pay dividends in the years to come.”

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 Saturday, 10 November 2012 21:35