University of Georgia
Vanderbilt
Strong Second Half Lifts Georgia Over Vanderbilt
September 21, 2014 | Soccer
Highlights and interviews with Marion Crowder, Kelsey Killean, and Steve Holeman following No. 24 Georgia's 3-1 come-from-behind win over Vanderbilt
Sept. 21, 2014
ATHENS, Ga. --- The No. 24 Georgia soccer team used three second-half goals - including two for sophomore Marion Crowder - to earn a 3-1 come-from-behind victory over Vanderbilt Sunday afternoon at the UGA Soccer Stadium. The win pushed the Bulldogs to 6-1-1 on the season and 1-0-1 in conference play, as the team jumped back into league action after opening the season at Ole Miss back in August.
Georgia has now won five straight games, and today allowed a goal for the first time since Aug. 31. Today's comeback from down 1-0 also marked the first time the Bulldogs have come back to win a game when trailing since Oct. 7, 2011.
"Credit to Vanderbilt - they came in and were the aggressor," said head coach Steve Holeman. "They outplayed us, they outworked us, and they were better on all sides of the ball in the first half. They deserved to be up a goal. They could've been up two at half. We knew we had to make adjustments, and the team responded incredibly well. It was nice to come from behind."
The Commodores got on the board just over six minutes in, as Simone Charley fired one to the bottom left corner past Louise Hogrell from the center of the box to give Vandy the 1-0 lead in the seventh minute. The visitors would hold onto the lead at halftime, out-shooting Georgia 11-8 over the first 45:00. Vandy had a second opportunity at a goal shortly after the first, but a shot following a corner kick was cleared off the line by Crowder to keep it a one-goal game at the break.
It was the first time this season the Bulldogs allowed a goal in the first half and failed to score first in a contest.
Georgia came out of halftime with the intensity level up, and began peppering the Vanderbilt keeper with shots in search of the equalizer. It would come in the 59th minute as junior defender Emma Sonnett fired a hard shot from long range from her spot on the back line, and Crowder was there to follow the rebound off the keeper's bobble to tie the game at 1-1. It was Crowder's fourth of the year, with the assist going to Sonnett on the initial attempt.
Georgia took its first lead of the afternoon in the 76th minute as freshman Kelsey Killean tallied her second of the season when she one-timed it from the left flank following an Andie Fontanetta ball inside. And Crowder netted her second of the game and fifth of the season in the 86th minute to add the insurance for UGA, finishing a breakaway chance off a pass from Gabby Seiler that made it 3-1, which is where it remained at the final whistle.
The Bulldogs' dominant second half saw Georgia finish leading 22-16 in the final shot count, while the teams each took seven corner kicks on the day. Hogrell made five saves in goal for Georgia.
Seiler's assist on Crowder's second goal gives the sophomore at least one point in all eight of Georgia's games this season - good for a school-record streak. Crowder has scored multiple goals in back-to-back games for UGA after also doing so last Sunday vs. Furman. Also noteworthy for Georgia on Sunday was the return of sixth-year senior midfielder Laura Eddy, who played her first game after suffering a torn ACL after the 2013 season - her third such injury. Eddy played 49 minutes off the bench and took one shot.
Vanderbilt drops to 5-4 on the season and 0-1 to start their season slate. Georgia is now 11-9-1 in the all-time series.
Georgia is back in action next weekend, traveling to meet Florida and South Carolina on the road in a pair of big SEC match-ups.
