STATESBORO - Fueled by a dream of playing collegiate soccer with her lifelong friend gifted Georgia Southern women's program a high level goal scorer.
Senior forward Bri Conley has loved the sport of soccer since she was born at the Fort Benning military base in Columbus, Georgia. Joining her first team at four years old, Conley knew soccer was always going to be her sport.
"In middle school I ran track," Conley said. "But I quickly knew that I wanted to put all my focus into soccer."
All through her teenage years, Bri was traveling around the south playing club soccer with the best talent Georgia and Florida had to offer. Her current teammate, redshirt junior Kendall Wilson, was also on her travel team.
"We would just all show up to tournaments from all different parts, warm up together while catching up with each other and then it was gametime," Conley said.
For high school Conley played and dominated at Northside HS in Columbus, racking up All-Region honors three times, along with being named the 2022 Region MVP and 2021 Golden Boot award winner.
With all the success that her club, ODP and high school ball brought to her, also brought calls from high level college programs. When the Eagles came calling, Bri knew it was a match made in heaven.
"I chose Georgia Southern for a number of reasons," Conley said. "It offered me an opportunity to play in state and to be close to home, and also to play with my best friend Kendall."
Since joining the Eagles, Conley has made her presence felt, scoring eleven goals and racking up seven assists in her four year career. She is the Eagles' active leading scorer in goals and points going into the final month of play in 2025.
During her sophomore season, Conley had a moment during the Sun Belt tournament that will stick with her forever.
"It was the 80th minute of the game and we were trailing ULM, 1-0," Conley said. "Our goalkeeper Quinn Wilson cleared it for me and I was able to run onto it and score. It leveled the score and sent us to extra time."
After 30 minutes of scoreless extra time, the game was decided by penalties and now alumni Maya Zovko scored the deciding penalty to advance the Eagles into the next round of the 2023 Sun Belt Tournament.
"I wasn't worried when it came down to penalties," Conley said. "I had full confidence that everyone was gonna be able to do their job and we were going to win."
Going into her last season as an Eagle, Bri has simple goals. "Win and create memories with my teammates, while being the best version of myself I can be," Conley said.
One of those memories came in the season opener against Samford on August 14th. With the score tied, 2-2, the Eagles were searching for a winning goal late in the match.
"Coach puts me back in with ten minutes left in the game," Conley said. "Kendall was able to find me and I made a move down the sideline and was able to find Addie [Comer] for the game winning goal."
The clutch assist by Conley helped the Eagles earn their first win over Samford in school history - Samford had a 9-0 lead in the series until that match.
Even though her collegiate soccer career will be over in just a few months, Conley isn't putting away the books quite yet.
"I plan on going to Columbus State University and study nursing for about a year or two, and then go back to school to pursue becoming a nurse practitioner."
Bri Conley's story is way more than all the accolades and goals scored in her career. It's the countless hours spent perfecting her craft, playing a sport she loves with some of the closest people in her life.
