ROCK SOLID: Eagles' Defensive Duo Help Women's Soccer Soar To New Heights

Georgia Southern women's soccer is enjoying one of its best stretches of success in program history. As the Eagles look to open up defense of its Sun Belt regular season title on Sunday, hosting Georgia State at Eagle Field, we caught up with fifth-year senior defender Megan Prsybysz and senior defender Sade Heinrichs to talk about an incredible streak the duo have put together.

On October 11, 2020, the pair started for the Eagles in a road Sun Belt match at Appalachian State. Georgia Southern would take a 1-0 win over the Mountaineers, but importantly, that match started a streak of 56 straight starts for both Prsybysz and Heinrichs on the Eagles' back line. More impressively, however, the duo have missed only 147 minutes of play in the 10,352 minutes covering those 56 matches.

"I remember that game, it was raining," Heinrichs said. "Our season wasn't going that well, and I remember because we were just defending the whole time. They kept coming at us, and they hit the crossbar in the second half."

"It was a downpour at that point," Przybysz said. 

"We just needed to hold on," Heinrichs said. "And we were so happy when it ended."

The pair would start the final 10 matches of that season, which included three Spring matches when new head coach Chris Adams started his tenure and took the Eagles to play at Florida and at Ole Miss. The 2021 season saw the Eagles advance to the Sun Belt Tournament Championship match, and last year, the team captured the Sun Belt regular season title while also setting new school defensive records with six straight shutouts and an 0.71 goals against average.

As center backs, the duo are the key part of the defense for the Eagles and communication is key - not only between themselves, but with the team as a whole. So how has that communication grown over the last two and a half seasons?

"Megan has communicated very well the whole time I've been here," Heinrichs said. "In the beginning, when I was a freshman, I was shy, so I really didn't talk that much. So it helped me that she did, because I knew I didn't have to be the one that was the main voice. Over time, I've grown into it, and now we're both communicating more than we ever have before."

"I think now, we definitely share the load," Przybysz siad. "It goes back and forth, and Sade has grown into that role. It's helpful for me, and for everyone else on the team."

One of the more remarkable facts about the streak of starts for Przybysz and Heinrichs is that over the last 46 matches, the Eagles have had a true freshman starting at goalkeeper, a stat currently unmatched in NCAA Division I women's soccer. What's been the key for the duo to help that be successful?

"Giving them lots of feedback has been important," Przybysz said. "With Quinn [Wilson, current starting goalkeeper] she said, 'You guys just tell it to me straight.' And sometimes that's just what you've got to do, it's that tough love. We need her communicating with us. And we have that bond where we connect, and whoever's in goal, we're going to fight for them."

"I think giving the goalkeeper the trust from the beginning helped," Heinrichs said. "When you have someone more experienced trusting you, telling you that you can do it, it helps them a lot. Right now, Quinn's accepted her role and she's been doing really well. We're already seeing improvement in her communication."

The stretch of matches started together has seen some dramatic results, but a few stick out in the minds of the duo.

"For me, it was last year's match at ULM," Heinrichs said. "We were winning by a goal, and in the last minute, they had a free kick. We wanted to put them offsides, and I wasn't sure it was going to work because we rarely use an offsides trap. They hit the free kick and scored, but they were all offsides. We planned it, and it worked out. After that, we were all so happy, jumping around and celebrating. That really stuck."

Appropriately, Przybysz singles out the last two regular season meetings with Georgia State. "They've been chaotic, in a sense," Przybysz said. "Two years ago, we were down two goals. But we were able to get the tie. And then this past year, I feel like we got pelted in a way that we shouldn't have, but we were able to hold them off until we scored and won. We did a good job of team defending to hold onto it."

That match against the Panthers clinched the regular season title for the Eagles, but just six days later, Georgia State eliminated Georgia Southern from the Sun Belt tournament in the quarterfinals. So is there a bit of unfinished business for the pair going into Sun Belt play this season?

"Definitely," Heinrichs said. "Especially going into the tournament, since we didn't do so well last year. Everyone has their eyes on the tournament, but are also focusing on the regular season. I feel like there were some games last year that we should have done better. But this year we're ready for conference, since we've had a better non-conference record than last year. I think we're ready for it."

Less than two months remain in the regular season for the Eagles, and it'll be the final collegiate action for both Przybysz - the Ada, Michigan, native who is a double Eagle, alerady graduating from Georgia Southern with her bachelor's and master's degree - and Heinrichs, the Monchengladbach, Germany, native who will graduate with her bachelor's degree this Spring with an eye on continuing her soccer career professionally. What are they hoping to get out of their last collegiate matches?

"For me, it's just taking it all in," Przybysz said. "Really enjoying all the little things that soccer has brought to me. Like the Montana trip we just returned from. I feel so blessed to be able to do this. And for the team, I just want to give everything I've got for the other girls. I hope we can put both parts together, so they can get the cool experiences. And they get the chance to do it again. That's the way I'd like to finish out."

"I want this to be our best season since I've been here," Heinrichs said. "And I think we have the team to do that. We didn't lose as many girls as we have in the years before, so it's all in our hands now. We have a good record right now, and it would be great to finish it off, to do the same thing we did last year in the regular season and then go further in the tournament. For me, personally, I want to keep developing as a player. I want to use the resources here, I've grown so much in the past three and a half years that I want to finish on a good note."