Everett goal, Bobcat D makes for winning weekend

Published 3:52 pm Monday, October 21, 2024

Enough of the draws. Certainly enough of the losses. Six matches into the 2024 Peach Belt season, Georgia College & State University women’s soccer finally has a conference victory.

Inside of the last seven minutes of the first half of Saturday’s Peach Belt match in Milledgeville, Jack Marchant’s Bobcats had a corner kick, one of 11 they would take on the day. This one, sent into the box by Amanda Dewey, went first to Sydney Charles, deflected to Aralyn Everett, and finally settled inside the goal defended by Lander University.

Not only was it a lead rarely seen by the Bobcats in Peach Belt play, it was the only point scored all day. The 1-0 final put Georgia College & State University at 1-3-2 in the conference and 5-6-3 overall. This was also the first loss suffered all season by the Lander Bearcats of South Carolina in 10 matches.

One strange thing about the Bobcat season is that Saturday’s match was the third shutout, or clean sheet, recorded in a Peach Belt match. The other two times, however, GCSU was unable to score (Clayton State and USC-Beaufort on the road), ending the matches at 0-0 (the PBC does not play overtime until the postseason tournament).

“It’s a huge result for us,” said Marchant. “We’ve been talking about it all season long, how we played well in every game but not quite gotten the results the performances deserve. At the same time, sport is sport and you get what you deserve. Our biggest problem has been putting the ball in the back of the net. That was kind of the case today, but we got one, and more importantly we didn’t give up one.”

So much can happen in a soccer match that doesn’t show up on a stat sheet like goals, assists and saves do. Georgia College’s defense was put to work for all 90 minutes, and many players on the defensive end came through with the clearing kicks and steals to limit Lander to nine total shots, five of which were on goal. An example would be Chloe Markey at the sweeper spot handling what was a size mismatch with the Lander forward who only got two of her team’s shots. Taylor Salvaggio also played strong in the back with Lily Markey and Emily Agi, and Adriana Duque was solid in the midfield with Savannah Sause.

“They were superb,” said Marchant. “Every player, on the field or not, was superb. We know it’s going to be a team effort. We’re defending right; we just have to start scoring more goals. But defending was awesome.”

The shutout went to Maddie Drake, sophomore from Bonaire, with five saves and more plays than could be counted going after soccer balls in the box. Getting to the ball is no problem for Drake; it’s what she does with it that can make her coach wonder (will the punt go out of bounds or the throw go to nobody in particular).

“Sometimes she gives me a heart attack, but she was brilliant today,” said Marchant. “She relieved all the pressure by holding it. Kicking was superb. It helped settle everybody down.”

The three players involved in the Bobcat goal were all substitutes.

“It’s something we’ve worked on the last five weeks, getting more corners,” said Marchant. “It’s nice to finally score off one. We have a player who is a target (Charles), and she won the header. Aralyn was there to clean up and put the ball in the back of the net. Really pleasing.”

Sause and Chloe Markey were the first to negate the crosses and free kicks Lander had at the start. GCSU’s first corner was under three minutes in on Morgan Amrozowicz’ cross to Sarah King on the move. Amrozowicz had another good crossing pass where two teammates were in play, yet they were ruled offsides at 30:55.

Most of the action was taking place between the penalty boxes with Duque coming away with nice steals, and Duque, Salvaggio and Amrozowicz were able to get possession back after a big miscue from the goalkeeper at the 28-minute mark.

The next Bobcat corner kick came as Martin was double teamed at 24:20. Lander’s goalkeeper was able to fist the ball away for a clear, but then the Bearcats were called for a foul at midfield. Salvaggio’s lead-in was headed away, but Amrozowicz was there for a rebound and shot that missed high.

At 21:32, Lander missed an open shot wide. Another Lander attempt was deflected away for a corner kick at 19:15. Salvaggio headed that ball away. The Bearcats continued to have chances with a 25-yard free kick the Bobcats sent back. Lander would be later ruled offsides at 16:25.

Georgia College’s crossing passes and corner kicks didn’t find any teammates for the next six minutes. Everett checked into the action with 12 minutes left in the half and immediately earned her side a corner kick. Lander’s next corner was at 8:20 with the ball going over the net.

The winning corner kick began at 6:35. The Bobcats maintained ball control with the lead, Lander blocking a shot at 5:30 and Dewey and Everett working for another corner at 3:42. Drake was steadily getting to the ball on her end, and she allowed Dewey, Everett and Ali Amrozowicz to make a strong push in the opposite box in the final minute of the half.

A lot of action, but no shot on goal, so the score stayed 1-0 for intermission.

Four minutes into the second half, there was a lot of action again inside with Drake finally diving on the ball to put a stop to things. Agi sacrificed herself at midfield helping Grace Phillips retain possession for the Bobcats a couple of minutes later. Phillips was also first to a goal kick from Lander and knocked the ball to the top bar of the goal.

At 37:42, one of Drake’s bigger saves came as Lander was on target from midfield. While the ball was played away from the goal, Lander’s big Angele Hills took a shot Drake stopped.

Sause would provide a great back-line steal, and later she would steal the ball from Hills. Abbey Eison’s pass to Martin for a shot was saved at the 30-minute mark. Two minutes later, GC was kicking from the corner again, and Duque got off a shot that was saved.

The only yellow card of the match went to the Bobcats at 25:43, and Lander seized on the momentum only to shoot high at 24:55. Drake also stopped a 45-yard free kick a minute later and Chloe Markey deflected a crossing pass 90 seconds later.

Eison took the next GC shot on the run, which was saved at 21:13. Salvaggio and Agi defended Lander’s corner attempt one more minute later. More defensive takeaways came from Duque and Martin, Martin taking a shot that would be saved (15:55). Chole Markey and Sause broke up Lander’s chance at 9:40. One final Bobcat defensive stand was led by Charles’ steal, and Drake last save was at 6:32.

The Bobcats have three Peach Belt soccer matches left, and Marchant saw Saturday’s win as a galvanizing moment.

“This team has typically started well but fell away toward the end of a season,” he said. “We wanted to change that. At the back end of the season are the important games. We want to be hitting the front foot at conference tournament time. I don’t think many teams are going to want to play us. We showed that by defeating very good opposition.”