Statesboro, Ga. - The Citadel soccer team defeated Georgia Southern, 2-1, for the second straight year at Eagle Field in Statesboro, Ga. on Thursday afternoon. This victory marks the first Southern Conference road win in program history and second conference win this season.
Amy Loughran led the Bulldogs on the field with two goals while Leah Hawkins and Nikkita Persaud tallied one assist each. At goalie, Whitney Nave finished with two saves. The Citadel outshot the Eagles, 13-11 and both teams tied with three corners each.
Persaud took the first shot on goal of the match with 41:45 on the clock but Georgia Southern's Lauren Santos picked up her first save of the game. The Eagles had an opportunity to score in the 39th minute from a goal kick but it was blocked by a wall of Bulldog defenders. Whitney Nave earned her first save of the game when Georgia Southern took their first shot on goal with 34:30 on the clock.
About two minutes later, Nicole Martinoli tried to score but it was saved by the Eagles' Santos. Then Leah Hawkins threw in the ball from the sideline to Amy Loughran. Loughran then dribbled the ball a few feet, shot and scored for The Citadel with 28:55 on the clock. Persaud once again began to put pressure on Georgia Southern when she was wide open and took a hard shot with 21 minutes left on the clock but it was saved.
The Bulldogs continued to dominate as Persaud assisted another goal to Loughran with 15:03 on the clock for the 2-0 lead. The Eagles attempted to get back in the game with two minutes left in the half after a hard goal kick but the ball flew high of the net. The Citadel led into halftime, 2-0. The Bulldogs finished the first half outshooting Georgia Southern 10-7.
In the second half, the Eagles started off strong when Georgia Southern's Candace Marshall almost slipped the ball in right pass Nave but it fell wide with 41:20 on the clock. Then the Eagle's Sara Oland took a shot a minute later for an Eagle point to claim Georgia Southern's fourth goal of the season. The score changed 2-1, forcing a more physical and competitive match.
Nikki Mares had a good chance to add another point when she shot with 12:15 left to play but it was saved by the Eagles' Santos. Then Martinoli passed the ball to Loughran who was wide open and Loughran shot high with 10 minutes on the clock. The Eagles tried to capitalize on several chances but were unsuccessful. The Bulldogs improve to 5-8-0, 2-3-0 SoCon while Georgia Southern falls to 0-12-0, 0-5-0 SoCon. This is also the second time in program history that the Bulldogs have recorded five wins with the first dating back to the 2002 season.
"Although we didn't play pretty soccer today," said Loughran. "The score board is what really counts. The team hustled to the last minute and it paid off."
"We played hard throughout the whole game and came out with a win," said Nave. "We need to continue working on our game to get to the next level."
"It wasn't our best day," said assistant coach Jamie Stewart. "But we showed a lot of heart and it helped us pull off a Southern Conference win on the road. We are looking forward to earning more wins in the conference this season."
Coming up next, the Bulldogs will host the Davidson Wildcats at WLI Field on Sunday, Oct. 11 at 2 p.m. For more information on Bulldog Soccer visit the official website of The Citadel Athletics at www.CitadelSports.com.
