Atlanta Soccer News: Art, Music and Culture: College Alert: Dirty South's Georgia Div 1 rundown

College Alert: Dirty South's Georgia Div 1 rundown

Georgia State

It took almost an hour for things to get started due to some weather moving through the area on Friday evening, but the Panther women opened up their season against Alabama State with a 3-0 rout. GSU had a 13-0 shot advantage in the first half, but didn’t find the net until Alexis Thomas’ 80th minute strike. The floodgates opened from there - Callie O’Connor found the net two minutes later and Brooke Shank added the game’s third goal nearly six minutes after that.

Up at Kennesaw last night, there were no goals to speak of as KSU and GSU played to a scoreless draw. The Owls led the way in shots 14-11 (6-5 in shots on goal) as Brie Haynes and Catherine McDuff stood strong in goal all evening for their respective teams.

The Panther men topped Oglethorpe in an exhibition on Saturday and open with a trip down I-85 to Mercer on Friday.

Kennesaw State

The Owls started their 2016 campaign on a high note as they topped Chattanooga 1-0 on Friday. Shannon Driscoll’s 14th minute marker stood up as the Owls held the Mocs to just four shots (all on goal) during a relatively straight forward night for McDuff. KSU would make it an unbeaten start to the year in their 0-0 match against Georgia State last night.

Georgia

The Bulldogs started their season with a draw as they finished 2-2 with Oklahoma State in Athens on Friday. After the area storms held this one up for twenty minutes, Mariel Gutierrez opened the scoring in the 10th minute. After the Cowgirls raced back with a pair of tallies in the 31st and 62nd minutes, it was Katie MacGinntie tying things up in the 81st for the match’s final goal.

Things weren’t as fortunate in Clemson as the #14 Tigers dropped the Bulldogs 3-1. Marion Crowder found the net in the 49th minute to cut Clemson’s margin to 2-1, but Paige Reckert iced the match away in the 64th minute. Louise Hogrell had a strong showing in net with eight saves to keep the margin relatively close for the Dawgs.

Mercer

Mercer’s men dropped an exhibition to North Florida in Jacksonville on Saturday. As mentioned, they’ll open their 2016 slate at home against Georgia State on Friday evening.

The women split the first two matches of their regular season. Friday evening’s contest against Alabama State in Huntsville ended up not really being much of a match as the Bears stormed to a 6-0 laugher over the overmatched Lady Hornets. Abbey Reddig notched two goals while Maddie Clark scored one and assisted on another in a game in which the Bears outshot the Lady Hornets 27-8.

Mercer found themselves on the other end of a shutout as they fell to Oklahoma State 3-0. The Cowgirls wrapped up their trip through Georgia with a perfect slate as they opened the scoring in the 2nd minute and never looked back. The Bears allowed a whopping 22 shots (10 on goal) while mustering three of their own (with just one on frame).

Georgia Southern

The Eagle men split a pair of exhibition matches against SCAD (3-1 win) and UNC Asheville (2-1 loss). They travel to Houston on Friday to open up a weekend tournament against Houston Baptist to start their 2016 slate.

The women started off their campaign 0-2 as they launched their season against UNC Wilmington at home and on the road versus Jacksonville State. In a 3-0 loss on Friday to the Seahawks, the Eagles conceded goals in the 26th, 40th, and 72nd minutes as they were badly outshot 29-6 (13-3 on net) and trailed 10-1 on corners. Emily Flinn and Lauren Karinshak combined for 10 saves despite being beaten three times.

Sunday’s match at Jacksonville State was a little more competitive, but the Eagles dropped this one by a count of 3-1. GSU spotted the Gamecocks the game’s first two goals before Alana McShane put the Eagles on the board in the 53rd minutes, but a Kayla Thompson goal less than two minutes later extended the lead to two to put it out of reach.