Georgia Soccer opens SEC season with tie

facebooktwitterreddit

The Georgia Soccer team took the pitch on a hot and humid Friday night in Oxford and a tied a tough Ole Miss club 1 – 1 .

Ole Miss returned a veteran defense and senior goal keeper to open the season and only sophomore Gabby Seiler struck for a Bulldog goal. Seiler scored in the 39th minute off a Carli Shultis corner kick.

More from Georgia Bulldogs News

Georgia used a 9 – 6 shot advantage to gain a 1 – 0 tie at intermission. Ole Miss dominated to open the second half and tied the match in the 54th minute when Amanda Karlsson set up Olivia Harrison from the center of the box.

Georgia had opportunities to take the lead, but the veteran Ole Miss defense and senior goal keeper Kelly McCormick shut out the visiting Bulldogs the rest of the way. Georgia was able to match the Rebel effort on defense as freshman goalkeeper Louise Hogrell recorded four saves in goal.

Coach Steve Holeman spoke to Georgiadogs.com.

"We’ve got a lot to learn from this game. It was a great match between two teams just getting underway. Ole Miss is a very good team and it was great to take a point out of here. We had our moments, they had their moments, and it was a great SEC battle. With the heat today, we had to show our depth. I thought to start the second half we weren’t at our best and Ole Miss had a lot to do with that. When we had to go to some of our other personnel, the players who came off the bench changed the game, and we took some momentum toward the latter part of the second half and into over time. Overall, it was a good game for us, and we’ll certainly assess and become better because of it."

Georgia took the lead in the 39th minute on a strike from Seiler off a Carli Shultis corner kick to put the Bulldogs on top 1-0. The lead remained into the intermission, with the visiting Bulldogs leading in the shot column 9-6. Despite some chances for the Bulldogs toward the end of the frame, the teams went to extra time in front of a national television audience and the largest crowd in attendance in Ole Miss’ history.

The game served as the first live on-campus event televised on the brand new SEC Network, and was the first time in history Georgia has ever opened with a conference game.

The Bulldogs will take on UNC Greensboro Sunday at 2 p.m. at the UGA Soccer Stadium. Admission is free. The game will be streamed live on SEC Network + with  live audio on Georgiadogs.com.