University of Georgia
South Carolina
Georgia Defeated by No. 17 South Carolina
September 11, 2015 | Soccer
Quick highlights from Georgia's 3-1 loss to No. 17 South Carolina in the team's SEC opener.
Sept. 11, 2015
ATHENS, Ga.--The Georgia soccer team fell 3-1 to No. 17 South Carolina in its SEC opener Friday night at the Turner Soccer Complex.
The Bulldogs are now (0-5-1, 0-1) on the season and will face Samford on Sunday at 7 p.m. ET in Birmingham, Alabama.
The Gamecocks (6-1-0, 1-0) struck first in the 22' after forward Raina Johnson's shot was batted out by Georgia goalkeeper Louise Hogrell into the possession of forward Sophie Groff. The South Carolina forward found an opening in the Bulldogs' defense and put the Gamecocks on the board first taking a 1-0 lead.
Head coach Billy Lesesne was disappointed in the outcome, but hopes his team can bounce back on Sunday.
"We didn't keep the ball well," Lesesne said. "We panicked and gave it away too easily and then we had to chase. That's not the fun part of the game, chasing and giving up opportunities. Mariel's goal gave us a lift, but we couldn't carry it over. We gave up another goal really late in the half and chased the game from there. They were more mature than us in a lot different areas."
The Bulldogs came out firing after taking the first hit with both midfielders Sydney Shultis and Lauren Tanner coming within several feet of scoring, but nice stops by South Carolina goalkeeper Abby Crider saved the Bulldogs' attempts.
The highlight of the first half and potentially the best play of the season thus far for the Bulldogs came in the 38' when defender Mariel Gutierrez fired a missile from 35 yards out right over the South Carolina keeper and into the back of the net tying the score up 1-1. Gutierrez has now scored both of the Bulldogs' two goals on the season.
Georgia was unable to keep momentum after Gutierrez' goal when South Carolina's Anna Conklin put the Gamecocks up 2-1 several minutes later in the 41'. The goal came after a nice assist from Daija Griffin who drew several Bulldog defenders to the corner before placing a cross perfectly to Conklin to finish off the goal.
The final 45 minutes belonged to the Gamecocks as South Carolina controlled most of the half keeping the ball on the Georgia side for the remainder of the period. The Gamecock's third goal came right out of the gates in the second-half when Savannah McCaskill drilled her fifth score of the 2015 season. Georgia made several comeback attempts, but was unable to string out any sort of success.
South Carolina outshot Georgia 18-9 overall and took the corner kick margin 4-3. Georgia goalkeeper Louise Hogrell finished with six saves on the contest. Caroline Waters was issued a red card in the 85' and will miss the Bulldogs' next game against Samford.
The Bulldogs round out the weekend with a trip to Birmingham, Ala., to play Samford on Sunday at 7 p.m. ET. The game will be streamed live via the SoCon Digital Network.
