STATESBORO - Georgia Southern women's soccer took over first place in the Sun Belt Conference East Division standings, with just one match remaining in the regular season, courtesy of Sunday's 1-0 victory over James Madison at Eagle Field
The Eagles extended their current win streak to five and set a couple of program records in the process, improving to 7-3-5 overall and 6-1-2 in the Sun Belt. The six Sun Belt Conference wins surpass the previous school record of five, set during the 2014 season, and the five straight shutouts recorded by the Eagles eclipse the previous record of four straight, set twice previously. The current scoreless streak of 456 minutes and 58 seconds is now the second-longest scoreless streak in school history, behind the 511 minute, 31 second streak set during the 2000 campaign.
James Madison falls to 9-3-5 overall and 5-1-3 in the Sun Belt, seeing its eight match unbeaten streak come to a close with Sunday's result.
In a battle of two of the stingiest defenses in women's college soccer, goals were certain to be hard to come by on the afternoon. But the Eagles were the team that struck first, getting a turnover deep in JMU's territory thanks to pressure by its forwards. Junior Simone Timm found fifth-year Olivia Durham with a pass at the top of the box, and Durham fed a ball into the box for redshirt sophomore Elis Nemtsov. Nemtsov calmly took one touch and hooked a left-footed shot past JMU keeper Aledandra Blom's right for her sixth goal of the season in the 39th minute.
The Eagles enjoyed an 8-2 edge in shots at the break.
In the second half. James Madison adjusted and had the majority of possession in search of an equalizer. A shot by Suwaibatu Mohammed in the 68th minute was headed off the line by the Eagle defense, and freshman goalkeeper Katie Oakley recorded a pair of second-half saves to help preserve the shutout.
"It starts with team defending," Georgia Southern Head Women's Soccer Coach Chris Adams said of the victory. "Our team exemplified a lot of blue collar attitude and work ethic. We stayed super organized against a very good possession-oriented team. All credit to our players, our leaders and captains, for just communicating well, with us having to switch players and pass players on, which is a complicated thing to do in this game. But we were equal to it for 90 minute. Just super proud of our team defending, and how it ultimately led to a counter attack, which got us the goal and was the difference in the game."
With the win, Georgia Southern moves into first place in the Sun Belt East Division with 20 points, two ahead of JMU (18). A win or a draw for the Eagles on Thursday at Georgia State will secure the East Division title for Georgia Southern and a top two seed into the Sun Belt Conference Tournament, which takes place October 31-November 6 in Foley, Ala.
James Madison had a 59-41 edge in possession in the contest, though the Eagles finished the match with a 12-10 edge in shots. Oakley made three saves in net for her sixth shutout of the season, while Blom made three saves in net for the Dukes. Each team had two corner kicks and Georgia Southern was whistled for four fouls and a pair of offsides on the day, while JMU was whistled for three fouls and three offsides.
