MOBILE, Ala. – As a first year member of the Sun Belt Conference, the No. 4 Georgia Southern Eagles (11-5-2) opened play in the 2014 Sun Belt Conference Women’s Soccer Championship against No. 5 Appalachian State Mountaineers (8-11-0). Georgia Southern, the No. 4 seed came out victorious, 1-0, for the 2nd time in as many matches against App State.
The first forty minutes of the contest saw great scoring opportunities from both teams; however neither team was able to capitalize. All-Sun Belt First Team selection Katie Merson denied 3 shots on goal, while the Eagle offense peppered 4 shots on target over that span.
The Eagles broke the scoring open in the 43rd minute. Off a corner kick, Nora El-Shami served a great ball to the near post where Stephanie Gratto headed the ball in from 4 yards out. The goal was Gratto's 5th of the season and proved to be the game winner.
“Appalachian State did a great job of testing our back line today. They have great speed up top and they work really hard”, said Eagles head coach Brian Dunleavy. “ It was a challenge for us, but we did a good job of holding tight and staying with our marks. We did well on clearances and on blocking shots. I feel like we really earned that win.”
The Eagles did just that as the final 20 minutes saw App State push 5 players forward in an effort to find an equalizer. When the dust settled, the Mountaineers out-shot the Eagles 10-5. Merson and the defense held strong, however, and Merson collected her 6th shut-out of the season.
"I realized we were going to have to make adjustments when they pushed 5 up top and we only had 4 in the back," said Merson. "We pulled different players back, and I think we matched up well with everything they threw at us late in the game. Our team has a great outlook about this tournament, and we came to win. Friday will be another test for us, but we have the right mindset and we are ready no matter who the opponent is."
The Eagles will await the result of the 7 p.m. (CT) game featuring top-seeded South Alabama and eighth-seeded UALR. The Eagles will battle the winner in the semifinals on Friday, Nov. 7 at 7 p.m. (CT).