STATESBORO - Sophomore Faith Phillips' shot from distance took a deflection and skipped past the Texas State goalkeeper to give Georgia Southern a 1-0 Sun Belt Conference overtime victory on Friday evening at Eagle Field.

The win keeps the Eagles (9-4-2, 4-1-1 SBC) unbeaten at home this season with a perfect 5-0 record, while Texas State falls to 6-6-1 overall and 3-4 in the Sun Belt. Georgia Southern will next face Louisiana on Sunday at Noon in Sun Belt action at Eagle Field.

Georgia Southern held a slim 8-7 edge in shots at the half, but neither team could find a quality chance in the first 45 minutes. Texas State looked to have a leg up on the Eagles in the 78th minute as a foul in the box resulted in a penalty kick for the Bobcats. Trinity Clark stepped up to the spot and shot right, but freshman goalkeeper Michaela English pushed aside the try to keep the match scoreless.

The Eagles had a golden chance late to come away with the win in regulation. With 78 seconds remaining, senior Taylor Regensburger drove a shot that hit the right post and caromed back out to the top of the box. Senior Olivia Durham's follow was gobbled up by Texas State goalkeeper Beth Agee, and we headed to overtime.

Just about two and a half minutes into overtime, junior Karin Winka fed a ball in the midfield to Phillips, who dribbled around a teammate and uncorked a shot towards goal from about 28 yards out. It took a deflection off of a Texas State defender and skipped past Agee just inside the far post for the match-winner. It was the first goal of the season for Phillips, who joined the Eagles this season as a transfer from UAB.

"A lot of credit to Texas State," Georgia Southern Head Women's Soccer Coach Chris Adams said. "We saw that they were very stingy. We've played a lot of one goal games, so we knew coming in that it was going to be a dogfight. We had a little bit of trouble just trying to link up. But the best part was, here we are in overtime, and we've had a Golden Goal go against us this year. We challenged them because the one thing we haven't accomplished yet this season is a Golden Goal ourselves, and lo and behold, we find a way. Karin gets the ball forward, Faith comes inside and hits a shot that gets a deflection. Soccer sometimes is a funny game, tonight the bounce went our way in a very good soccer game, ends up being the difference. Very proud of our grit, our organization and just finding a way to get a result here at home."

Georgia Southern finished the match with a 19-17 edge in shots. English made eight saves in net for her sixth shutout of the year, while Agee made six saves in net for the Bobcats. Georgia Southern had a 7-6 edge in corner kicks, and both teams were whistled for four fouls on the night.