Georgia soccer defeats UNC Greensboro in home opener
The Georgia soccer team defeated UNC Greensboro 3-0 in Sunday afternoon’s home opener before 2054 fans at the UGA Soccer Stadium. The win improves Georgia’s record to 1-0-1. Sophomore Marion Crowder scored the game winner in her first game back following off-season ACL surgery,.
Georgia’s goals all came in the second half and were struck by Crowder, Gabby Seiler, and Bria Washington. Washington’s goal was her career first and freshman goalkeeper Louise Hogrell secured the shut out with five saves.
Head coach Steve Holeman spoke to Georgiadogs.com.
"It feels great – what an incredible crowd and a fantastic environment. It was difficult playing on the road on Friday night and back at home today – we actually had to travel further than UNCG to get back here, so we knew it wouldn’t have the same emotion and intensity as Friday’s game. But the girls responded incredibly well, came out and played a great game.We put a lot of pressure on UNCG in the first half, and even though it was 0-0 we felt like a goal was coming. We talked to the girls at halftime and said that once they got one, numbers 2 and 3 would come. We just needed someone to break it open, and who better to do that than Marion Crowder. I am so incredibly proud of Marion after six months of extremely hard work to get back. She came into my office this morning knowing this would be the day, and she had the biggest smile I’ve ever seen. She knew she’d only get those 10 minutes or so, and she wanted more, we told her, “Hey, you’ll just have to get it done in that amount of time.” And she did."
Georgia failed to score in the first half despite out-shooting the Spartans 12-2. Crowder’s go ahead goal came in the 63rd minute following a strong tackle from Seiler, who flicked the ball ahead to Crowder. Crowder touched twice before striking and the ball found the bottom corner to give the Bulldogs the 1-0 lead.
Seiler converted a penalty kick in the 70th minute, and Washington finished inside the far post off an assist from freshman Shayna Raekelboom in the 76th minute for the final tally.
The Bulldogs dominated the shot column 23-6, taking nine corner kicks to UNCG’s one. Seiler and Washington led Georgia with five shots each, while Rachel Garcia took four.
Georgia improves to 4-1 all-time vs. UNC Greensboro in the series.
The head Bulldogs to take on Long Beach State and Cal State-Fullerton Aug. 29-31. Live audio coverage and the Georgia Soccer Live Blog will be available for both contests on Georgiadogs.com.