Trojans Earn Postseason Berth with 3-1 Win

ATLANTA, Ga. – Behind a pair of goals from Doro Greulich, Little Rock secured a spot in the Sun Belt Conference tournament with a 3-1 win over Georgia State Sunday afternoon. With the win, the Trojans improve their conference record to 4-3-2, giving them 14 conference points and currently sit them fifth in the standings. The Trojans also upped their overall record to 9-7-2.

Little Rock opened up the game quickly as Greulich hit a shot that slipped through the goalkeeper's fingers and into the net putting the Trojans up 1-0 in the tenth minute. Right out of the gates in the second half, Greulich would tally another goal in the 46th minute to put Little Rock up 2-0 and give her eight goals on the year.
 
Georgia State would make a comeback push in the game as the Panther's, Siobhan Wilson, got a shot past Megan Swanson in the 56th minute to put the score at 2-1. Little Rock would squash any hope of a comeback minutes later when Morgan Smocovich would get her fourth goal on the year to put the game at 3-1.
 
The Georgia State defense struggled to contain Greulich as she was able to get seven shots on the afternoon with five of them on goal and the two finding the net. Quin Wilkes was able to get four shots of her own and two of them on goal. The Trojans out shot the Panthers 18-10 and out shot them 9-4 on goal.
 
With one game remaining for the Trojans and most of the teams in the conference done with their regular seasons, Little Rock has the opportunity to move up in the standings. The three points earned today already jumped them above Coastal Carolina and Georgia Southern, who each have 13 conference points. South Alabama and Texas State have already earned the one and two spots in the tournament. Troy is right in front of Little Rock with 15 points and just ahead of them in third is Arkansas State with 16 points.
 
A win is needed for the Trojans to move up at all in the standings. But, Georgia Southern and Troy also have a matchup next Sunday that will pose a mix-up in the final standings.
 
If the Trojans get the win Friday, it will put them at 17 points and propel them ahead of Arkansas State in the standings. The best case scenarios would be with a Trojan win and Troy loss or tie which would give the Trojans enough points to jump both Troy and Arkansas State putting them in the third seed going into the tournament.
 
If Little Rock loses or ties, they would need Georgia Southern to also lose or tie to Troy to avoid falling in the standings. A Georgia Southern win would put them at 16 points, so a loss or tie for the Trojans would keep them at 14 or 15 points and ultimately jumped by the Eagles.
 
The Trojans cap off their regular season against South Alabama in Mobile, Alabama on Friday with kickoff at 1 p.m.