Eagles Visit Chattanooga and Samford
10/20/2011 4:49:00 PM | Women's Soccer
STATESBORO, Ga. - Georgia Southern women's soccer opens a run of three-straight road matches on Friday night, October 21st, at Chattanooga. The weekend comes to a close against Samford on Sunday afternoon at 3 p.m. (ET).
Georgia Southern has won three of its last four matches including an emotional 2-1 victory over Appalachian State on Sunday, October 9th, on Alex Murphy's (Cincinnati, Ohio) goal with just 1.3 seconds left on the clock.
The Eagles are 5-8-2 overall with a 3-4-1 mark in league play. Junior Courtney Collins (Mason, Ohio) has seven goals to lead the Georgia Southern offense which is averaging 1.3 goals per match. She ranks fourth in the Southern Conference at 0.47 goals per match. Murphy's total of five goals ranks second on the team, while senior Sara Oland (Evans, Ga.) netted a goal in the Eagles' last outing to raise her total to three. Oland also has six assists this season.
Goalkeeper Katie Merson (Albuquerque, N.M.) has been a stabilizing force for the Georgia Southern defense, making 52 saves including a career high 11 against College of Charleston last Sunday. Merson has four shutouts this season and is holding opponents to an 1.18 goals against average.
The top-eight teams in the final regular season Southern Conference standings reach the SoCon Tournament, something the Eagles haven't done since 2006. Georgia Southern is seventh in the Southern Conference with 10 points and one point up on eighth place Western Carolina.
Chattanooga enters the match at 6-7-2 overall and 1-6-1 in league play to occupy last place in the league. The Mocs are led by the league's top scorer, Becca Smith, at 13 goals and five assists.
The Eagles' Sunday opponent, Samford is 8-5-2 overall and an unbeaten 6-0-2 in league play. Sarah Wilkinson has seven goals to pace the Bulldog offense while goalkeeper Alyssa Whitehead has a 1.02 goals against average with 89 saves.
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.
