Appalachian State capitalized on two early goals to claim a 2-1 victory over Georgia Southern in their Sun Belt women’s soccer opener on Sunday at Bo Pitts Field. With the win, the Mountaineers improved to 4-3-2 overall, while Georgia Southern dropped to 3-6-1, continuing a tough trend of narrow losses as the Eagles fell to 0-6 in one-goal games this season.
The Mountaineers wasted no time getting on the board, with Ellie Garrison scoring just four minutes into the match. Garrison took advantage of a misplayed clearance at the top of the box and slotted her shot inside the left post to give App State a 1-0 lead.
In the 12th minute, App State struck again. Mumu Guisasola found Stephanie Barbosa, who sent a pass to Izzy Wood at the top of the box. Wood spun and finished to double the Mountaineers’ advantage, putting Georgia Southern in an early 2-0 hole.
The Eagles managed to cut the deficit in half before the break. A cross from Maya Zovko found senior Smith Cathey in front of the net, and her backheel effort deflected off App State keeper Sarah Wommack and trickled in for her fourth goal of the season. The goal gave Georgia Southern life going into halftime, though they were outshot 9-4 in the opening 45 minutes.
Georgia Southern’s hopes for a comeback took a hit in the 55th minute when defender Kendall Wilson was shown a second yellow card, forcing the Eagles to play with 10 players for the remainder of the match. Despite being down a player, Georgia Southern battled on but could only muster one shot in the second half, a strike from Faith Phillips that sailed wide.
App State controlled the pace for much of the second half, and Georgia Southern was unable to create many clear scoring chances. The Mountaineers finished the game with a 17-6 shot advantage and edged the Eagles 2-1 in corner kicks.
“We got off to a slow start and dug ourselves an 0-2 hole,” head coach Chris Adams said postgame. “I thought it was an important goal to get before halftime, but after the red card, it was an uphill battle playing with only 10. We will regroup and get back to work with a quick turnaround this week heading to Arkansas State.”
Georgia Southern will look to bounce back when they travel to Arkansas State on Thursday, September 26, for a 4 p.m. ET matchup against the Red Wolves.
