Women's Soccer Opens Conference Play this Weekend
9/25/2009 12:53:00 PM | Women's Soccer
STATESBORO, Ga. - The Georgia Southern women's soccer team (0-7) opens conference play this weekend with matches against Appalachian State (3-4-1) Friday at 7 p.m. and Western Carolina (3-3-2) Sunday at 2 p.m.
The Eagles open conference play on the road for the second straight year. A season ago Georgia Southern won the conference opener, defeating Wofford 2-1 (9/26).
The Eagles enter conference play coming off a tough loss to Mercer last Friday. The Eagles edged the Bears in corner kicks 3-1 and exhibited a strong second half performance but were unable to pick up the win.
The goalkeeper combination of Lauren Santos (Berwyn, Ill.) and Missy Meyer (Alpharetta, Ga.) leads the conference in saves (47) and averages 6.71 saves a match.
The Eagles' offense is led by Kyrstin Smith (Acworth, Ga.) who ranks first on the team in shots (8) and is tied for first in goals scored (1). Jenny Anderson (Birmingham, Ala.) and Sara Oland (Evans, Ga.) are right behind Smith with seven shots each.
Georgia Southern leads the all-time series against Appalachian State 12-8-1, but the Mountaineers are winners of the last six meetings. Five of those six matches were decided by only one goal.
Appalachian State opened the season with a 3-1 record but has gone 0-3-1 in the last four matches. The Mountaineers' attack is led by Sydney Hill. Hill leads the team in shots (11), goals (2) and shots on goal (8). Caroline Clarke leads the Appalachian State defense with 35 saves and a 0.91 goals against average.
Western Carolina enters the weekend coming off a 0-0 tie with UNC Asheville. The Catamounts opened the season with a pair of wins over Gardner-Webb and East Tennessee State. Their offense ranks seventh in shots (77), eighth in goals (6) and eighth in assists (5) in the conference. Caitlin Williams and the Catamounts' defense rank fourth in the SoCon with a 0.71 goals against average.
