FOLEY, Ala. – Thanks to an early brace by freshman
Mariella Stephens, the Trojans (4-5-2, 3-3-2 Sun Belt) are moving on to the quarterfinals after defeating Georgia Southern (3-10-1, 3-6-1 Sun Belt) 2-1.
The first corner kick of the afternoon was taken by senior
Morgan Smocovich in the seventh minute, who placed the ball right in front of the goal for freshman
Mariella Stephens to tap in and collect her first collegiate points.
"Morgan has some of the best delivery of set plays in the league and she's been putting great balls in all season," said head coach
Mark Foster. "Last night, one of the last things we challenged the team was to be more aggressive on set plays today, so it was brilliant to get one in on the first corner of the day."
Little Rock took advantage of a scattered Eagles defense again just three minutes later.
Natalee Geren sent the ball up the field to
Mari Young, who headed the ball wide right to Stephens. The freshman hammered it into the left corner of the box, giving the Eagle goalkeeper no chance to stop it.
"Mariella is a terrific young player and it was great to see her step up today and get two goals," added Coach Foster. "It was a big-time effort from a freshman."
Georgia Southern pushed to get back into the game, and they got lucky in the 38th minute after one player got in the way of Little Rock's attempt to clear the ball in front of the box, deflecting it into the net instead. However, rather than becoming demoralized after the Eagles got on the board, the Trojans came out of the break looking re-energized and never let their opponents equalize.
"At halftime, we reminded the team how good they are and how good they can be when they relax and play their game," said Coach Foster. "I didn't feel like we played our game in the first half. We really looked nervous and we didn't get into our rhythm, so it's ironic that we scored two goals in the first half while in the second half we played some amazing soccer, created a ton of opportunities, but didn't score."
The Trojans held the majority of possession in the second half, piecing together several opportunities for arguably the best attacking movement the team has shown all season. Many of those attempts were just a hair wide, and in addition, the wind was not in Little Rock's favor after switching sides at the half. A red card was called on the Eagles with 15 minutes to go, putting Georgia Southern down a player to seal their fate.
"I'm delighted for the girls to get a win in the first round after everything we've been through this season," said Coach Foster. "I know that when we play to our potential, we can get our win, and we're going to continue to go and attack and look to get into the semifinals."
Little Rock will advance to the
quarterfinals of the Sun Belt Conference tournament, which will take place on Wednesday, Nov. 2 at 1:30 p.m. The Trojans are set to face South Alabama, the number one seed from the East division.
For the latest information on Little Rock Soccer, make sure to check out LRTrojans.com. You can also find the team on social media at @LittleRockSOC on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
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