STATESBORO - Georgia Southern women's soccer used a pair of first-half goals, including the earliest one in a match in school history, to notch a 3-1 win over the visiting College of Charleston on Sunday afternoon.
The Eagles (4-1) notched their third straight victory and also defeated the Cougars (0-4-1) for the first time in nine tries, earning a win over the College of Charleston for the first time since 2006. Georgia Southern evened the overall series between the former SoCon rivals to 10-10-3.
"We had not beaten them since 2006," Georgia Southern head women's soccer coach Chris Adams said. "The College of Charleston is a soccer school, and when we made the schedule for this season, we wanted to put schools on where soccer is a priority. It feels good to beat a soccer school and one you haven't beaten in such a long time."
The match started quickly for the home team as just 20 seconds into the match, senior Simone Timm got a touch on a ball sent into the box by sophomore Erin Wilkins that flicked past the keeper for the early 1-0 lead. The goal was the quickest goal in Georgia Southern women's soccer history, beating the Nora Falnes goal just 25 seconds into the match against Georgia State on Oct. 13, 2019.
A miscue would lead to an equalizer for the Cougars in the eighth minute as freshman goalkeeper Quinn Wilson's clearance went straight to the College of Charleston's Mary Alexander, who lofted a shot into the empty net to make the score 1-1.
But the Eagles would retake the lead on Faith Phillips' goal in the 22nd minute, giving Georgia Southern the lead heading into halftime.
Georgia Southern would put the match away in the 63rd minute as a ball from junior Smith Cathey in the box hit off of Charleston goalkeeper Bailey Wood, and sophomore Bri Conley would tap in the loose ball for her first collegiate goal and the 3-1 final margin, the third different goal scorer on the day for the Eagles.
"We're creating chances and more times than not, we're making them count," Coach Adams said about the diversity in goal scorers. "We probably should have had a couple more today, but any time you get two in the first half, it's a luxury. Then that third goal in the second half is really important to give us a margin for error. We love it when goals are coming from different people, it just makes it that much harder to scout us."
Shots finished tied at 15 a piece between the two teams. Wilson made a season-high five saves in net for the Eagles, while the Cougars' Savannah Barron and Wood each made two saves in their halves of play. The Eagles held a 7-4 advantage in corner kicks and Georgia Southern was whistled for eight fouls and three offsides, with the College of Charleston whistled for seven fouls and one offsides.
"We've shown marked progress, but we'll enjoy this one quickly, because we have UGA rolling in here on Thursday," Coach Adams said about the upcoming home matchup with No. 22 Georgia. "They beat us pretty handily last year. I hope that we've closed that gap and that we can be competitive. We'll see if we can't pick off another Power 5."
