STATESBORO, Ga. – The Georgia Southern women's soccer team clenched its first win of the season in a hard-fought battle against a traditionally strong Charlotte team. The Eagles had momentum from the start as junior Angelica Wallerstedt and senior Melinda Lukas both sunk goals in the first half and put the Eagles up 2-0 heading into halftime. Charlotte fought back in the second half, evening the score at 3-3 and sending the game into overtime. The Eagles were able to clinch the game on a magical strike by Junique Rodriguez in the 100^th minute, propelling them to the Eagles to their first win of the season.

MATCH FACTS
Georgia Southern (1-2-1) – 4
Charlotte (2-2-0) - 3
 
SCORING
38' – GS – A wide pass from Jennifer Wittick set up forward Angelica Wallerstedt for a shot from 18 yards, putting the Eagles up 1-0 in the first half.
41' – GS – Alana McShane crossed a long ball from the center of the field, which was played forward by Melinda Lukas and sunk from 15 yards out.
56' – CHA – Martha Thomas had a short free kick kicked to Rebecca Beatty, which was lobbed over the keeper from 15 yards.
71' – CHA – Amelia Clower kicked a far pass to Megan Greene that was shot from the top of the box, tying the game 2-2.
72' – GS – Free kick by Georgia Southern was headed in by a Charlotte defender.
76' – CHA – Ball centered from Sophie Sipprell to Martha Thomas, who scored from 13 yards.
100' – GS – Jenn Wittick passed a ball to Junique Rodriguez at the edge of 18 yards out, one-on-one with the keeper from 12 yards out, Rodriguez sunk the winning goal to propel the Eagles to their first win of the 2016 season.

NOTES
- Three Eagles scored their first goals of the season in today's match. Junior forward Angelica Wallerstedt and senior forward Melinda Lukas both scored goals in the first half, and sophomore midfielder Junique Rodriguez scored her first goal this season in overtime.
- Freshman Lauren Karinshak started her third straight game between the pipes and recorded 13 saves for the Eagles.
- Senior forward Jennifer Wittick had two assists on the day.

QUOTES FROM COACH DUNLEAVY
"A great team performance today. The players executed our game plan perfectly in the first half. UNC Charlotte is a fantastic attacking team and it was going to be a challenge for us to keep a clean sheet, particularly since we played double overtime on Friday night," said head coach Brian Dunleavy. "I would have liked us to defend our lead better than we did, but lessons learned there in game management and how to deal with crosses. I am really proud of how hard we fought, and how we continued to push forward in overtime was awesome. It was a result that verifies our quality, and we need to continue improving and move forward."
 
NEXT UP
The Eagles travel to Winthrop for a single game next Friday, and return home the following weekend to play Kennesaw State and South Florida to wrap up their preseason schedule. The Eagles begin Sun Belt play at UL Monroe on Sept. 15.
 
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