STATESBORO - Freshman Emma Armstrong's first collegiate goal helped Georgia Southern earn a 1-1 Sun Belt Conference women's soccer draw with visiting Texas State on Thursday evening at Eagle Field.

The Eagles (1-2-5, 0-0-2 SBC) have now seen four of their last five matches end in ties, while Texas State (7-1-2, 1-0-1 SBC) earns a point in its first match outside of the state of Texas this season. Georgia Southern returns to action on Sunday, traveling to Old Dominion to take on the Monarchs in a 3:30 p.m. Sun Belt contest from Norfolk, Va.

Georgia Southern tested the Bobcats early in the first half with a pair of good chances, including one from redshirt freshman Ellie McIntyre in the 13th minute that was saved off the line by a Texas State defender. Neither team would tally a first half goal, however, as the Eagles held a slim 5-3 shot advantage at the scoreless halftime break.

In the second half, a brilliant bit of passing saw the Eagles strike first. Sophomore Smith Cathey fed a throughball to streaking redshirt freshman Kyleigh Drew in the right side of the box. Drew then crossed to the far post, where Armstrong scored on her first touch from point-blank range in the 58th minute for the 1-0 lead.

A set piece resulted in the game-tying goal from the Bobcats in the 68th minute. Juana Plata's corner kick from the far side found defender Addison Peters alone on the near post, and Peters headed in the cross for the equalizer.

The Eagles would finish with an 11-8 edge in shots, but the Bobcats enjoyed a 6-1 advantage in corner kicks. Texas State was whistled for 13 fouls and three offsides, with Georgia Southern committing seven fouls and one offside.

"Really good first half, proud of how well we played," Georgia Southern Head Women's Soccer Coach Chris Adams said. "It's probably the best that we've played, to be honest. Really found the open player, circulated the ball extremely well, and we kept the ball in their end for almost the entirety of the first half. We got a little bit unlucky with a couple of shots, where we hit somebody standing in the box.

"In the second half, we finally found found the goal to get our nose out front," Adams said. "Kyleigh made a really good decision to slot the ball across the goal, Emma arrives on the back post and gets the tap-in. It's nice to get a goal in the run of play, that's something we've been working on, so I was definitely pleased with our execution there. On a hot night, we tired a little bit, and the only thing that I would change - we needed to be a little better in our starting position, winning a few more first and second balls, so we don't give up so many corners, which is ultimately what cost us the win. But a draw against a team that comes in here 7-1-1, that's beaten Rice - if there's such a thing as a good tie, this was it, even though it's at home. Obviously we would have loved to win but we had to at least get a point out of a very good Texas State team."