University of Georgia Athletics
Georgia Soccer 2005 Season Review
January 18, 2006 | Soccer
Jan. 18, 2006
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Looking back at the 2005 Georgia women's soccer season, even first-year head coach Patrick Baker marvels at the accomplishments his Bulldog team put forth this past fall. With just two returning seniors and the lack of an established scoring threat, outside expectations for Georgia soccer were not high entering the season. But by the time it was over, a 12-6-2 record and a fifth-place regular season finish in the SEC had the Bulldogs turning a lot of heads.
"One year into this transition process, I feel very good about what our young ladies accomplished last fall," said Baker. "The players have re-developed a winning mentality and now know what it takes to have a successful season. Our motivation for 2005 was not to repeat what happened in 2004, and the motivation for 2006 is to expand upon the successes of 2005. We didn't achieve all of our goals, but we played some exciting soccer and covered a lot of important ground for the future."
The University of Georgia soccer team returned to the SEC Tournament after a one-year hiatus in 2004, when the squad missed the postseason for the first time since its inaugural year in 1995. Despite an early exit at the hands of Vanderbilt, the 2005 season was still a historic one for the Bulldogs. Georgia posted an eight-game turnaround in just one year, the second-best single-season reversal of fortune in SEC history, after posting a 4-9-5 record with a 2-5-3 mark in the conference and missing postseason play in 2004.
"We came a long way on and off the field," said Baker. "If we had sat there before the season and told the players that we would have the kind of success that we had in non-conference and conference play and tell the girls that we would be the No. 5 seed headed to the SEC Tournament, they all would said to sign them up. We worked very hard, we kept improving as individuals and as a team and I think we accomplished several of our goals."
This year's team received national attention as Georgia was ranked No. 29 for one week in the SoccerBuzz Top 30. Throughout the season the Bulldogs had also been receiving votes in several national polls. The team spent almost the whole year ranked between No. 6 and No. 7 in the region, barely trailing such national powers as North Carolina, Florida State, Duke and Florida.
"For five weeks we were either receiving votes or just barely in the Top 30," said Baker. "We were very close, but for some reasons that we could control and some that would couldn't, we never broke through."
With the team's success came individual recognition for several Bulldogs. Senior forward Ali Williams and junior midfielder Randi-Lynn Bruso were the most decorated Dogs, each being named NSCAA and SoccerBuzz Second-Team All-Southeast Region and first-team All-SEC. Williams was also given the distinction of SEC Offensive Player of the Year, the first ever won by a Georgia player. Junior midfielder Cortni Joyner and freshman defender Megan Tomlinson joined them with conference honors of their own, earning second-team All-SEC and SEC All-Freshman team appointments as well. Another freshman defender, Kristin Garman, was then selected to the Southeast Region All-Freshman team. Patrick Baker was also named the SoccerBuzz Southeast Region runner-up Coach of the Year.
The accolades for Georgia were not limited just to play on the field, but hard work in the classroom as well. For the third consecutive year, the team earned the NSCAA Team Academic Award for having a cumulative GPA exceeding a 3.0. Individually, Catherine Bruce was selected to the ESPN The Magazine Third-team Academic All-District squad as she posted a 3.74 GPA as a Speech Communications major, in addition to anchoring the stout Bulldog defense.
During the year, three Bulldog players garnered national weekly awards. Senior forward Ali Williams was named to the Soccer America and Soccer Buzz National Elite Teams of the Week on Oct. 25, while junior goalkeeper Lauren Church and freshman defender Kristin Garman were both named to the Top Drawer Soccer National Team of the Week on Oct. 26 and Sept. 12, respectively. The awards marked the first time since 2001 that any Bulldog received national recognition. Williams was also named a two-time SEC Offensive Player of the Week (Sept. 6 and Oct. 24) while Church was the SEC Defensive Player of the Week on Oct. 24.
The team saw a tremendous increase in offensive production under the new coaching regime. After scoring a total of 20 goals in 2004, the Bulldog squad hit the back of the net 34 times. Georgia's regular-season goal differential was a +24 this year, a 30-goal turnaround after posting a minus-eight in 2004, as the team was outscored 28-20.
Defensively, the Soccer Dogs posted the best-ever defensive effort in Georgia annals. The Bulldogs allowed just 10 goals to be scored on them in 19 regular-season contests. The team's Goals Against Average of 0.51 is also the best ever registered by a Georgia squad, while the team's 10 shutouts rank second all-time. The squad finished the year in the top five in nearly every defensive statistical category.
Before the season, coach Baker broke the year down into five pieces: the preseason, the non-conference schedule, conference competition, the SEC Tournament and the NCAA Tournament.
The preseason began on Aug. 10 and saw the team go through three-a-days for the first three days of practice, with early morning fitness tests followed by mid-morning and evening training sessions. After making final roster selections, the newly formed Bulldog squad took on N.C. State in a scrimmage at home, 2-0. The team then moved on to two practices a day until class began on Aug. 18.
"Our preseason set the tone for our season through a number of different things," said Baker. "It was very intense and created accountability among the girls in regard to their fitness and level of play. It sent a big message to the 22 players that we kept. I think a lot of confidence came from the preseason as the girls realized that they could accomplish some good things. Through fitness, the group as a whole did well. The remaining players who did not do as well as others did not want to be left behind, so they pushed themselves that much harder, accomplishing that goal as well. Looking back, in the one scrimmage that we had we beat N.C. State 2-0. When looking at what they've done in their own conference, to have everyone play and get a good result was a nice spark to get early in the season."
In non-conference play, the Bulldogs began the year on a six-game win streak, collecting more wins than all of the 2004 squad did in the whole season. The team was 5-0 at home and collected a road win at Georgia State while snapping the Panthers' 17-game home winning streak. The team then traveled to California to play two games on the west coast before jumping into SEC play.
"Our strength of schedule was not terrific but it will grow as the team and the program grows," Baker continued. "The schedule was already done when we got here. We were pleased with how we performed, only giving up two goals in those eight games (and recorded five shutouts.) In California we earned a 1-1 tie at (No. 22) USC, then took a 1-0 at LMU, who is one of the best teams in the country in our opinion, they just haven't gotten a few results that they needed. Overall we faced an array of different teams with different systems that put us in a great position to start SEC play."
The SEC season saw the Bulldogs register a 6-4-1 conference record, marking the first time since 2001 that the team picked up six conference wins. The squad also held a five-game unbeaten streak from Oct. 9 to Oct. 23, a feat never accomplished by a Georgia soccer team. The squad also set numerous team records in several offensive and defensive statistical categories.
"We didn't really know what to expect," said Baker. "We were still getting to know our own team and our opponents in the conference. We would look at one another as a staff before every game and say "what do you think?", we just didn't know. We just continued to stress that if we can have a winning record in non-conference games and a winning record in the conference, we can do good things. Once we entered conference play we again realized that the difference between winning and losing from top to bottom in this conference is very small. There is a lot of parity and its very competitive. We're excited to have been in every game, not only from the run of play but on the scoreboard as well. We set very good standards for defense and organization. To give up so few goals in conference play (eight goals in 11 games) and to have individuals step up was very big. Our play in conference games set us up to perform well in the SEC Tournament and hopefully the NCAA tournament as well."
Another highlight of the season was the stellar attendance figures that came out of the UGA Soccer Complex. Georgia finished first in the SEC in both total home attendance and average home attendance. A total of 17,915 patrons came out to 11 games in Athens, for an average of 1,629 fans per game.
"I could not be more happy with the fan support that young ladies received this year," said Baker. "We had a tremendous turnout for our first night and a tremendous turnout for our last night. We're disappointed that two of our biggest crowds had to leave after watching us take a loss, but those were not for lack of effort. I especially want to thank the students, the local Athens community, the club teams from here to Atlanta and all those involved in soccer throughout year. Hopefully this is a relationship that can continue to grow. To have over 1,800 on the night before the Georgia-Florida football game really shows the kind of commitment and support there is for the Georgia women's soccer program."