JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - The Georgia Southern women's soccer team stretched its current unbeaten streak to four with a 1-1 draw at Jacksonville University on Thursday evening at Southern Oak Stadium in Jacksonville, Fla.
The Eagles moved to 1-1-3 on the year with the draw, while Jacksonville remained unbeaten on its young season at 3-0-2. Georgia Southern returns to action on Sunday, traveling to Kennesaw, Ga., to take on Kennesaw State in a 1 p.m. non-conference contest.
The Eagles outshot the Dolphins, 10-1, in the first half. A corner kick produced the game's first goal as freshman Erin Wilkins' service to the near post was headed in by freshman Kendall Wilson in the 37th minute.
Jacksonville would score the equalizer early into the second half on a sequence following a corner kick of its own. Hayley Friedl delivered a corner kick that was cleared out of the box, but it came right back to Friedl on the left side of the box. Friedl's follow found the upper corner inside the far post in the 54th minute to make the score 1-1.
The rest of the second half was played in a solid rainstorm, limiting chances on both sides. Sophomore Ansleigh Crenshaw had an open try from inside the box in the 77th minute that was just wide of the near post. The Eagles had a last ditch corner in the final minute but a header sailed high over the crossbar.
The Eagles outshot the Dolphins 7-2 in the second half and finished the night with a 17-3 edge in shots. Katie Oakley made one save in net for the Eagles, while Gretchen Duttenhofer made four first-half saves for the Dolphins and substitute keeper Murphy Sheaff made two second-half saves. The Eagles enjoyed an 8-2 advantage in corner kicks and JU was whistled for seven fouls, while Georgia Southern committed six fouls and one offsides.
"In the first half, we out shot them 10 shots to one, but we get one goal out of it," Georgia Southern Head Women's Soccer Coach Chris Adams said. "It's ok, but honestly we could have used another one along the way. We outshot them 7-2 in the second half, so to have 17 shots and get only one goal, we simply have to be more efficient in front of goal. The name of the game is to score goals. And they got one goal off of three shots. Credit to JU, they had a game plan. I thought we had the better side, but the scoreboard is not indicative of that. We'll keep our head up and get back to work tomorrow. We will get ready for Kennesaw on Sunday. It's one more chance to tune-up before we start conference play, and to make sure we're ready when we roll into Troy a week from Sunday."
