Women's Soccer Set for Home Opener versus Mercer
9/13/2007 4:09:00 AM | Women's Soccer
STATESBORO, Ga. ? The Georgia Southern Eagles return to Statesboro for their first home match of the regular season, Friday, Sep. 14, versus in-state rival Mercer. Kick off is slated for 4 p.m. at Eagle Field.
After a highly-competitive, three-game road trip, the Eagles (0-3-0) look forward to returning home to notch their first win of the season. The Bears come to Statesboro with a 1-2-1 record, having lost their last couple matches.
“It’s great to play at home,” said head coach Ashley Hart. “Our team is excited to play in front of the home crowd. We’ve had a good week of practice and I feel like we’re playing well. We’re just missing that last little piece of finishing. So I feel like if we play like we’ve practiced this week then we will be successful.”
Though the Eagles have scored but one goal on the young season, they have produced many offensive opportunities, led by Ashley Toussaint (Warner Robins, Ga.) with five shots, and Holli Finneren (Lake Orion, Mich.), Heather Smith (Kingwood, Texas) and Michelle Berard (Kennesaw, Ga.) with three shots, apiece. The Eagles lone goal came off the foot of Finneren on a penalty kick.
The Bears’ Courtney Maxey is the team’s leading scorer, responsible for the Bears’ pair of goals in their 2-1, double-overtime win versus Jackson State (Sep. 2).
“Mercer is going to be a good team and (head coach) Grant Serafy always has his team well-prepared,” said Hart. “So it will be a good battle for us and a good chance to not only show our home crowd what we’ve got, but also a chance to play against a good team and test our ability to finish.”
With three road games behind the Eagles, Friday’s home match marks the first of a three-game homestand which includes the team’s first conference contest of the season versus The Citadel (Sep. 19).
“We’ve played three good teams and we’ve definitely been in all three games,” said Hart. “The positive is we’ve improved each of the three games. If we can continue to do that, I think the goals will fall into place. I think our players have seen that. They’ve seen that we’ve been successful and to just be patient and take advantage of the opportunities that we do get. We have a positive mindset and everybody is working hard.”
Fans will have more to cheer about as the first 50 to the game will receive a free Subway sandwich.
