STATESBORO - Georgia Southern women's soccer scored goals at the front end of each half to collect a 2-1 non-conference victory over visiting Stetson on Friday evening at Eagle Field.
The win improved the Eagles (4-2-1) to 2-0 at home and also was the second time that Georgia Southern picked up a win over Stetson (2-4-1) in this calendar year. The Eagles beat the Hatters, 2-1, in February of 2021 during the 2020-21 season. Georgia Southern returns to action on Sunday, traveling to Macon to take on in-state rival Mercer at 6 p.m.
Georgia Southern got on the board in the fourth minute as
Isabel Kopp's shot from outside the box hit the crossbar. The rebound was trapped between a few players inside the box when graduate student
Marcela Montoya got on the end of it and blasted it inside the far post for her fifth goal of the season. It ties Montoya's goal output from last year, which saw her earn first-team All-Conference honors.
The Eagles kept that 1-0 lead into halftime, thanks in large part to a heads-up play by
Megan Przybysz. Stetson's Lea Alexander shot from the left side in the ninth minute, and Przybyz sailed in and cleared the ball off the line to keep the Hatters off the board.
Georgia Southern held a slim 5-4 edge in shots in the first half.
In the second half, the Eagles got a quick goal as
Karin Winka ran onto a loose ball at the top of the box and shot it inside the near post for the 2-0 lead.
Stetson would get one goal back with 23 seconds remaining in the contest as a foul resulted in a free kick from approximately 32' out. Kyleigh Theilen rocked the free kick into the upper left corner for the final 2-1 tally.
"It feels good to play at home, we've been road warriors here of late," Georgia Southern Head Women's Soccer Coach
Chris Adams said. "We did a good job of getting that first goal. And a lot of times we've gotten one goal and just rested, so I was very pleased to get the second goal. Unfortunately we needed the second as a margin of error. We lost our composure at the end, which we'll address and move on from. But first and foremost, I'm proud to get the result at home. There's plenty of opportunities for growth which we'll discuss and fix quickly as we have to prepare for Mercer on Sunday."
The Eagles and Hatters each collected 11 shots in the match.
Michaela English made five saves in net for the Eagles, while Stetson's Ashleigh Wise made three saves. Georgia Southern recorded 12 corner kicks, compared to three for the Hatters, and the Eagles were whistled for 12 fouls to five for Stetson. Stetson was offsides twice on the night.
