NORFOLK, Va. - Redshirt sophomore Elis Nemtsov's volley in the 84th minute broke a scoreless deadlock and freshman Michaela Mikko tallied seven saves as Georgia Southern notched a 1-0 Sun Belt Conference women's soccer victory over host Old Dominion on Sunday afternoon at the ODU Soccer Complex.
The Eagles moved to 2-2-5 overall and remained unbeaten (1-0-2) in Sun Belt Conference play with the win over the Monarchs (3-6-1, 1-2 SBC) in the first meeting between the two teams in program history. Georgia Southern returns to action on Sunday, October 2, hosting Arkansas State in a Noon contest at Eagle Field.
With a significant wind blowing from right to left across the field, the Eagles started the match with the wind in their faces and managed just two shots before halftime. Mikko collected four first-half saves in net to keep the match scoreless at the break.
In the second half, with the wind at their backs, the Eagles took advantage offensively. Junior Simone Timm had a free header in the early stages of the second half, then redshirt senior Megan Przybysz nearly put the Eagles in front on a free kick header that was pushed into the post and out by ODU goalkeeper Erin Jones in the 69th minute.
The breakthrough came in the 84th minute as the Eagles pressured Jones in the box with a high ball. Jones lost her footing and the ball bounced to Nemtsov, who volleyed it over the prone keeper and into the back of the net for her second goal of the season and the lead.
Mikko finished with seven saves for her second shutout of the season, and pushed a long-range shot into the crossbar in the 74th minute to help preserve the clean sheet.
"We realized that they had a particular way that they wanted to play," Georgia Southern Head Women's Soccer Coach Chris Adams said. "And they weren't going to go away from it, so we changed the way we played to go more direct. They wanted to get on the ball and play a possession-style game, so instead we made them chase us. Today was a gutsy performance from our group. I'm proud of our fight, that we won individual duels and battles and came away with an important road Sun Belt win."
Old Dominion held a 12-8 edge in shots on the contest, including a 7-4 advantage in shots on goal. Jones made three saves for the Monarchs, compared to Mikko's seven, and ODU also held a 5-2 edge in corner kicks. Fouls were even at seven apiece, and both teams were offsides twice on the day
