ATLANTA, Ga. - Trailing by two goals with six minutes left in regulation, Georgia Southern women's soccer scored twice in a minute and a half stretch to earn a 2-2 Sun Belt Conference draw at Georgia State on Sunday afternoon in Atlanta.
The draw means that the Eagles (9-6-4, 4-3-3 SBC) earn a first-round bye in the upcoming Sun Belt Conference tournament, which takes place November 1-7 in Foley, Ala. Georgia State moves to 8-3-7 overall and 3-1-6 in the league with the tie. The official bracket for the tournament will be released on Thursday, October 28 after the ULM/Troy contest.
Georgia Southern outshot the Panthers by a 10-3 margin in the first half, but neither team could find the back of the net in the first 45 minutes.
Georgia State would strike first in the second half, as Bree Barley scored off of an assist by Maddie Johnson in the 65th minute to put the home team up 1-0. The Panthers would double their lead in the 73rd minute on an unassisted goal by Johnson.
The Eagles won a corner kick in the 84th minute, trailing 2-0. The corner found Smith Cathey on the far post, whose shot was deflected in by Megan Przybysz in the 85th minute to make the score 2-1. It was Przybysz's fourth goal of the season.
Just more than a minute later, a corner kick again for Georgia Southern would lead to the equalizer. Maddie Klintworth headed in a corner from Nora Falnes in the 86th minute for her first goal of the season to make the score 2-2.
Cathey would have the only shot for either team in the final three minutes, moving the match to overtime. It was the Eagles' fourth overtime match for Georgia Southern in the last five contests.
Georgia State would have two shots in the first overtime period, while Georgia Southern would have one. In the second overtime period, the Eagles would have four shots and the Panthers two, but the match ended with the 2-2 tie.
"I'm extremely proud of the character of our group," Georgia Southern Head Women's Soccer Coach Chris Adams said. "Having played in a double overtime match on Thursday, then training yesterday, we had some heavy legs. But we gutted it out. When we were down 2-0, we could have packed it in, but we weren't going to go away todday. We kept fighting, digging and getting the goal with 5:44 left to cut it to 2-1 invigorated us. We took advantage of that momentum, scored again on another set piece to force overtime. All credit to our kids for the execution on those set pieces. Neither team could break the other down in overtime, but I'm proud of our kids fight and togetherness today."
The Eagles collected a season-high 26 shots and held a 26-15 edge in the contest. Michaela English made three saves in net for Georgia Southern, while Maria Subies made seven saves in net for Georgia State. The Eagles had a 9-6 edge in corner kicks, and were whistled for 10 fouls, while the Panthers were whistled for six fouls. Each team was offsides three times on the day.
