Women's Soccer | 10/11/2015 4:04:00 PM

Box Score STATESBORO, Ga.-  The Georgia Southern women's soccer team grabbed their third conference win of the season against in-state rival Georgia State at home on Sunday, winning 4-3. Senior Nora-El Shami tallied her second hat trick of the season to lead the Eagles to their first win over Georgia State since 2001.

With a victory today by Georgia Southern women's soccer, the Eagles have added a point for their school to the Georgia Southern-Georgia State Rivalry Series. The score for the Series is now, Georgia Southern 1.5 and Georgia State 0. To view the results and scoring in this new competition, visit http://gseagles.com/sports/2015/9/30/GEN_0930150308.aspx

MATCH FACTS
Georgia State- 8-3-3 (2-2-1)
Georgia Southern- 6-6-2 (3-1-1)

SCORING
2'- GS- Nora El-Shami sunk in her first goal of the game in a 1 v 1 with the goalie
12'- GAST- Lauren Harriman scored off of a pass from Suzanne Arafa at the top of the box
15' – GS- El-Shami headed in a cross from Renee Nance
36' – GAST- Caitlin Ray tallied her sixth goal of the season in the 18-yard box
77' – GS- Jennifer Wittick headed in a corner from El-Shami three yards from the goal
86- GAST- Ray converted another goal, this time off of Arafa's corner kick
86- GS- El-Shami nails a penalty kick into the back of the net with just over three minutes left in the game
 
NOTES

• Nora El-Shami grabbed her second hat trick of the season to place her at nine goals this season, which ranks second on the team. She leads the Eagles with 30 points, 12 of those coming from assists and one being from today's match
• Jennifer Wittick scored her 10^th goal of the season to top the team

• Emily Egan saved four shots including an indirect free kick by the Panthers in the 66^th minute of play due to a back pass called on Georgia Southern.
• Georgia Southern beat Georgia State for the first time since 2001, to put the series at 6-12-2 with the Eagles trailing.

 
WHAT COACH BRIAN DUNLEAVY SAID
On the strategy going into the game
"I think we wanted to get into the game quickly. The most important thing for us was to get into position where we could press them and score a goal, and we got the first goal by pressing them and winning the ball back. To be fair, Georgia State was really, really good. I think the areas where they were better than us was in the midfield where they were pressing us and winning the ball and putting our back four under pressure.
 
"The second half, what we really wanted (the Eagles) to do was connect more passes and not give (Georgia State) opportunities which I felt like the goals they scored were probably more of them doing a better job of making us make mistakes than them creating opportunities for themselves. They were a very good team I thought."
 
On his thought process during the series of goals at the end
"When they scored to make it 3-3 and it was under five minutes to go, a momentum swing usually happens, and it goes to the team who just tied it. If the game would've gone into overtime, the momentum might've stay their way, but I'm so proud of the response from our team after that goal to quickly get the ball and get forward. It was a great opportunity for us and it was a clear penalty, and we really took advantage of it. That's what a really good team does. I'm happy with that."
 
On the significance of this win
"With four games to go, we play two teams that are at the top of the table as well. This is a huge boost for us in terms of going into a really, really challenging weekend. It's a tough game for both teams in that there's so much that rides on this—in-state recruiting, there's players on their team who were a part of this program that transferred over there. Hopefully we can carry the momentum and feel good about ourselves into next weekend."
 
NEXT UP
The Eagles host Troy on Friday at 7 p.m. for the annual GATA game and host South Alabama at 1 p.m. on Sunday. Friday's game will be broadcast live on ESPN3.

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