Eagles Shutout Bulldogs in Home SoCon Opener
9/19/2007 4:19:00 AM | Women's Soccer
STATESBORO, Ga. ? The Georgia Southern women's soccer team downed The Citadel, 6-0, Wednesday afternoon, in the Southern Conference opener.
With the win, the Eagles pick up their first victory and improve their record to 1-4-0 overall and 1-0-0 in SoCon play. The Citadel drops to 1-6-0 (0-1-0) with the loss.
“I'm proud of our good team effort,” said head coach Ashley Hart. “Everybody contributed very well. We finished our chances, we were organized defensively and things finally clicked. It's good to see things click and finally fall in place.”
The Eagles came out strong in the first half and notched their first goal in the 28th minute when freshman Jenny Anderson (Birmingham, Ala.) one-touched a winner after chasing a loose ball inside the six.
Maintaining steady control most of the first half, Georgia Southern won the first-half shots category by a 10-1 margin.
The Citadel's Rachelle Ornelas produced the Bulldogs' best scoring opportunity in the 29th minute, but her shot went high.
The second half saw the Eagles turn up the attack, while the GSU defense continued to stymie The Citadel's offensive force.
Georgia Southern produced another 10 shots in the second stanza, half of which found the back of the net.
In the 47th minute, junior Ashley Toussaint (Warner Robins, Ga.) broke away from the defense, beat the goalkeeper and made a shot from inside the six. Six minutes later, it was Toussaint again beating the defense up the middle and firing a winner from six yards out, giving the Eagles a 3-0 advantage.
“I though Ashley (Toussaint) played a big time game today,” added Hart. “She scored two great goals and then had a couple other good opportunities and was very dangerous for us.”
In the 68th minute, the Eagles went up 4-0 after a crossed corner kick bounced off a Bulldog defender and made its way in for an own goal.
Sophomore Heather Smith (Kingwood, Texas) notched her first goal of the season in the 76th minute. Her 40-yard penalty kick found the back of the net giving the Eagles a 5-0 lead. Thirteen minutes later, junior Audrey Brown (Fort Worth, Texas) scored her first season goal for a 6-0 advantage.
The Citadel's Britni Bunnell made nine saves on the day. Starting and playing the whole first half, Georgia Southern's Laura-Ashley Harris (Jonesboro, Ga.) earned the win.
The Eagles held a 20-1 advantage in shots and edged the Bulldogs 2-1 in corner kicks.
“It builds confidence and shows that we're playing well,” said Hart. “Though we haven't had the results that we've wanted before today, its good to finally have that positive outcome, especially in a conference game, its good to start out with a conference win.”
The Eagles will continue the three-game homestand versus former SoCon member Marshall, Friday, Sep. 21 at 4 p.m.
