JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - North Florida answered an early Georgia Southern goal with two in the match's first 15 minutes and held on for a 3-2 women's college soccer victory on Thursday evening at Hodges Stadium in Jacksonville, Fla.

The Ospreys improved to 2-3-2 with the victory, while Georgia Southern fell to 2-4. The Eagles will play their fifth straight match on the road on Sunday, visiting No. 2 Tennessee for a 1 p.m. contest against the Volunteers. It will be the highest ranked opponent that Georgia Southern has faced in program history.

The Eagles tallied a goal just 61 minutes into the match as Paisley Cathey fed Addison Comer with a ball at the top of the box. Comer's shot was misplayed by North Florida goalkeeper Audrey Johnson and ended up in the back of the net for the early 1-0 lead.

But the Ospreys quickly responded with a pair of goals before the match reached the 15 minute mark. Isabella Pontieri's shot caromed off of Georgia Southern goalkeeper Addison Daughtry, and Allie Fekany pounced on the rebound to score the equalizer in the ninth minute.

Pontieri then got on the board with a goal in the 14th minute to put the home team up by one, 2-1. The score would remain that way into the break, and each team had seven first half shots on the tally sheet.

In the second half, North Florida extended its lead to 3-1 as Zoe Looker headed in a corner kick from Pontieri in the 53rd minute for the 3-1 advantage.

The Eagles outshot the Ospreys, 7-2, after the break and were able to pull one back in the 76th minute as Emma Chapman intercepted a clearance pass, then fed a through ball to Bri Conley into the box, and Conley finished off the far post for her second goal of the season. But Georgia Southern would not get a quality chance at an equalizer in the game's final 14 minutes.

Georgia Southern finished the match with a 14-9 edge in shots. Daughtry made three saves in net for the Eagles, while Johnson had four saves in net for the Ospreys. Georgia Southern held a 7-2 edge in corner kicks and the Eagles where whistled for eight fouls and two offsides, while North Florida committed six fouls and were offsides four times.

"You score a goal in the first minute and get your nose out in front, you fully expect to control the game from there," Georgia Southern head women's soccer coach Chris Adams said. "Credit to North Florida, they had a lot of fight and they had answer when adversity struck, scoring a couple of goals to get their nose out front. They then gave us a dose of our own medicine by heading in a corner kick in the second half. The fight from us was there in the second half and I was really pleased with the goal to make it 3-2 to get us back into the game and how we fought until the end. But we've got several things to work on before we head to No. 2 Tennessee on Sunday."