Trojans Knock Off League-Leading Georgia State 3-0

 | YouTube: Adrian Blewitt | YouTube: Caitlyn Eddy

LITTLE ROCK – Caitlyn Eddy had a goal and an assist, Claire Palmer and Fali Garuba picked up goals and Sara Small earned her second consecutive shutout as the Little Rock soccer team defeated league-leading Georgia State 3-0 at the Coleman Sports & Recreation Complex on Sunday afternoon.
 
Eddy got her goal in the final minute of the first half, breaking a scoreless tie for good. Small earned four saves as the Trojans (6-5-4, 1-1-2 Sun Belt Conference) controlled the contest against the Panthers (8-2-3, 2-1-1) throughout.
 
The victory was Little Rock's first of the conference season, and the team has now taken a point from three of its four league games. Sunday's win broke a streak of four consecutive overtime games played by the Trojans. Georgia State suffered just its second loss of the entire season in Little Rock.
 
Eddy's goal came with 36 seconds left in the first half. Taking a pass from her right side, she had time to settle the ball down, wind up and shoot. Her attempt sailed to the upper right hand corner of the net, squeezing past Georgia State goalie Christa Fox for the 1-0 Little Rock lead.
 
That goal ended a fairly even first half, one that saw the teams even at six shots apiece and two saves each. Georgia State had a narrow 2-1 edge in corner kicks, but none of the three corners amounted to any quality chances.
 
The second half saw two more Little Rock goals that put the contest out of reach for the visitors. With Eddy taking a corner kick in the 55th minute, the ball bounced off Quin Wilkes and fell to Palmer. The freshmen knocked the ball past into an open net, doubling the Trojans' leading.
 
With just 11 minutes remaining, the Trojans slammed the door on any potential Panthers comeback. Shannon Shields took one of her long throw-ins from the left side of the field, and the ball bounced off the turf without being touched. Garuba was there for the redirection after the bounce, though, heading the ball up and over the Panthers and into the net for the third goal of the afternoon.
 
The Trojan defense was excellent for the duration, allowing just eight total shots and only four on goal. Small saved all four of those attempts including shots on three Panther breakaways.
 
Small is now on a shutout streak that spans 225 minutes, stretching back to the second half of the Appalachian State game on Sept. 27.
 
With the game firmly in control, the Trojans used nine players off the bench. Kayla Bell, Liz Berkeley, Logan Strange, Arola Aparicio, Nora Hellmers, Madi Motil, Kayla Turner, Sairra Tucker and Jacqueline Borucki all played Sunday with Borucki seeing 51 total minutes as a sub.
 
Four Trojans still managed to play all 90 minutes: Small, Hali Long, Bailey Fithian and Mikayla Uyokpeyi.
 
Little Rock remains at the Coleman Sports & Recreation Complex next weekend, closing out the home schedule with games against ULM on Friday and Louisiana on Sunday.