Late Goals Push UNCG Past Eagles, 2-1
9/30/2011 10:53:00 PM | Women's Soccer
STATESBORO, Ga. - Georgia Southern scored a goal to open the second half on Friday afternoon against UNCG to take a 1-0 lead in the second frame, but goals in the 76th and 88th minutes gave the Spartans a 2-1 victory at Eagle Field. The loss drops Georgia Southern to 0-3 in conference play and 2-7-1 overall while Greensboro improves to 3-7-0 and 2-1-0 in league games.
"We battled hard today," said Head Coach Lindsey Vanderspiegel. "I think we surprised UNC Greensboro coming out for the second half. We learn from our mistakes and do a better job at closing out games."
The teams played a quiet first half in terms of goals with the Spartans out-shooting the Eagles, 9-2 in the opening 45 minutes.
After the halftime intermission, Georgia Southern grabbed control of the match with the breakthrough goal by Courtney Collins (Mason, Ohio). Fellow attacker Sara Oland (Evans, Ga.) had her shot saved out wide where Oland was able to recycle the ball back to top of the six-yard box in front of goal. Collins got the ball in space and was able to score past the diving Spartan goalkeeper. The goal was Collins' fourth of the season.
UNCG equalized in the 76th minute with a goal by Kristin Player. The Spartan midfieder scored a loose ball inside the six-yard box for her third tally of the season. The goal leveled the scores at 1-1 with just 14 minutes left to play.
UNCG, however, pressed forward in the waning minutes to score the deciding goal just over three minutes from full time. Nitang Jones was fed wide by Lauren Lover at 35 yards where Jones ripped the hard shot past the diving goalkeeper. The tally handed UNCG the 2-1 victory.
Georgia Southern was out-shot 18-7 by the Spartans, but six of the Eagles' seven shots went on frame. GSU goalkeeper Kailey Kiefus (North Tustin, Calif.) made six saves on the afternoon for the Eagles.
The Eagles close out the weekend with a Sunday afternoon match against Elon. The test against the Phoenix starts at 2 p.m. from Eagle Field.
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.
