University of Georgia Athletics
Georgia Soccer Clips Georgia State, 2-0
September 17, 2006 | Soccer
ATHENS, Ga. The University of Georgia soccer team (5-2-0) earned its fifth shutout of the season on Sunday as the Bulldogs topped Georgia State (3-4-1) by a 2-0 score at the Turner Soccer Complex. The game-winner was scored by junior midfielder Randi-Lynn Bruso of Douglas, Mass.
“I am pleased that we moved to 5-2 but I am disappointed in how we performed today,” said Georgia head coach Patrick Baker. “On the Friday-Sunday playing rhythm it can be very tough on Sunday. To play in the afternoon heat can be draining and we were not as sharp as we were on Friday, but we have no excuses. We have a lot of talented players who should be able to perform better. I was happy that Randi and Joni were able to latch onto those goals, especially the early one by Randi, because it was a tight game the rest of the way. We have to give credit to Coach Martelli, he had his team prepared to play and they made it very difficult to do some of the things we wanted to do. I thought we had made some great strides against Furman and George Mason but obviously we still have a lot of work to do.”
The Bulldogs took a 1-0 lead just 00:58 into the game as Bruso buried a header off of an assist by senior defender Catherine Bruce (Decatur, Ga.). Following a Georgia corner kick, sophomore defender Megan Tomlinson headed it toward the goal where it was blocked by a GSU defender. The ball rebounded to Bruce, who chipped it back to the far post where Bruso came in unmarked and headed it into the back of the net. The goal was Bruso’s first of the season.
“I haven’t had a headball goal in a while,” said Bruso. “After fighting my way back from injury, it is nice to be rewarded with it. I saw the rebound come out to Catherine and then she just chipped it back through the box. I was unmarked and was able to just come in and put a good strike on it.
“I am kind of disappointed in the way we played today but in the end it is a win,” continued Bruso. “We did not generate the kind of offense that we know we can and when we did get chances we had trouble finishing.”
Following Bruso’s goal, the two teams then played the next 85:02 of the game without scoring before Georgia’s junior midfielder Joni Vickers (Peachtree City, Ga.) hit a long, lofting shot with her left foot that floated over the GSU goalkeeper’s head and found the right side of the goal. The tally was Vickers’ first of the season as well.
Georgia has now shut out its opponent in all five of its wins on the year. Freshman Michelle Betos (Flushing, N.Y.) made her first start of her career for the Bulldogs on Sunday and made one save in preserving the shutout.
“Words can’t describe what an honor it is to make a start for a school like the University of Georgia at any position,” said Betos. “But to earn a start when competing against the kind of goalkeepers that we have is a huge honor. It is great to get the shutout but I didn’t play as well as I would have liked. My distribution should have been better, our girls deserve it.”
“I think for the most part Michelle did well,” said Georgia goalkeepers coach Rob Thompson. “I think she could have done more when playing with her feet to raise the tempo and urgency out of the back, but her communication throughout the game was good.”
Georgia dominated the game on paper, outshooting the Panthers 19-5, putting eight shots on goal to GSU’s one, and took 11 corner kicks while not allowing any to Georgia State.
“I think we did a nice job on defense tonight,” said Baker. “It is good to know that we can play the way we did and still come away with a clean scoresheet. Once again we had a different look on our back line tonight but Lena Franklin did a good job playing all 90 minutes on the left side. Tomlinson and Bruce were solid in the middle and then Kristin Garman and Leslie McConnell were good on the outside as well.”
Georgia is back in action on Friday, Sept. 22 as the team heads to Starkville, Miss. for the beginning of Southeastern Conference play with a 7 p.m. kickoff against Mississippi State.
“I really hope all of our girls are excited to start conference play,” said Bruso. “Once you start the SEC part of your season and you play against teams like Tennessee and Florida, it is even more exciting. But we know we still have a lot to get done. We have a lot of work to do so that we can beat the teams we think we can and then give ourselves a chance against the top teams in the league.”
