STATESBORO - Old Dominion scored twice in the second half to collect a 2-1 Sun Belt Conference women's soccer victory over host Georgia Southern on Saturday afternoon at Bo Pitts Field in Statesboro.
The Monarchs remained unbeaten in Sun Belt play with the win, improving to 8-1-4 overall and 4-0-3 in the league, while Georgia Southern fell to 2-9-4 overall and 0-4-3 in the league with the loss. The Eagles return to action on Saturday, October 18, visiting Coastal Carolina for a 5 p.m. Sun Belt contest in Conway, S.C.
Georgia Southern weathered an early Monarch attack as ODU had nine shots in the match's first 15 minutes, but the Eagles settled into the match and came away with the first score as Erin Wilkins' diagonal longball from the right side found Maya Zmistowski in the box in the 43rd minute. Zmistowski's one-time finished inside the far post for her first collegiate goal and the 1-0 lead for the Eagles.
ODU held a 10-4 edge in shots at the break.
In the second half, the Monarchs would take control of the match with a pair of goals in a four-minute span. A free kick from Andrea Balcazar Algarin found the head of Dylan McEntarfer on the right side of the goal in the 64th minute for the equalizer. Then, in the 68th minute, a long shot from Ashley Economopoulos was saved by Georgia Southern goalkeeper Katie Oakley, but the high rebound was then headed into the net by Algarin for the go-ahead score.
"The type of looks that ODU got in the first half weren't necessarily from that dangerous of positions," Georgia Southern head women's soccer coach Chris Adams said. "And they were contested looks. Obviously, on the free kick, they got free and got an uncontested header. I thought we could have done a little better with that one. They just kept pushing after that. They're a very good team."
The Monarchs would finish the match with an 18-7 edge in shots. Oakley made eight saves in net for the Eagles, while ODU goalkeeper Erin Jones made two saves for the Monarchs. Each team had four corner kicks on the day, and the Eagles were whistled for eight fouls and one offsides, compared to four fouls and five offsides for ODU.
"I wouldn't be surprised to see Old Dominion at the top when all's said and done," Coach Adams said. "It was a hard fought match, it's a little disappointing to get our nose out front and not be able to see the game out, but really good fight from our kids today."
