University of Georgia
Tennessee
No. 20 Bulldogs Down Tennessee, 2-1
October 03, 2014 | Soccer
Highlights of Georgia soccer's 2-1 win over Tennessee from Athens on Friday night.
Oct. 3, 2014
ATHENS, Ga. --- The 20th-ranked Georgia soccer team remained perfect at home as the Bulldogs defeated visiting Tennessee by a 2-1 score Friday evening to move to 5-0 on the season at the UGA Soccer Stadium. The Bulldogs improve to 8-2-1 overall and 3-1-1 in league action heading into Sunday's match-up on the road at Mississippi State, looking for their third straight SEC win.
Tennessee falls to 6-6-0 (1-3-0) with tonight's setback.
Georgia got its first goal of the night from redshirt senior defender Carli Shultis, who found the back of the net for the first time in her UGA career to put the Bulldogs up 1-0 in the 14th minute. Gabby Seiler added a second goal - her sixth of the year - to make it 2-0, and Georgia was able to hold off the Lady Vols' comeback effort for the home win.
"This was a fantastic win," said head coach Steve Holeman. Tennessee is a great team. They're going to go on to win many more games. It was nice to get the two-goal lead, but unfortunately then we let them back in it. They earned their way back in it. In the second half, we stood strong, our defense was solid, and we kept them off the board."
"Absolutely amazing," Holeman said of Shultis' goal. "When she scored, we all looked at each other to confirm, `Was that Carli?' We're proud of her. It was a long time coming. We knew it was going to come. It couldn't have happened to a better person."
Georgia's 1-0 lead came early, as Laura Eddy stepped in for a corner kick that Rachel Garcia was able to get a header on, and when the loose ball trickled back to Shultis, she did not miss, firing it low past the keeper for the eventual game-winner for the Bulldogs just 13:29 into the game. Garcia was credited with the assist in setting up the play off the set piece.
Seiler then tallied her sixth of the season - tied for the lead on the team - in the 25th minute as she dribbled through traffic and finished to eclipse the 20-point plateau on the season and give Georgia the 2-0 lead. She has now had a goal or an assist in all but one game for UGA this season.
Tennessee answered just under three minutes later as Cheyenne Spade place one perfectly beneath goalkeeper Louise Hogrell's reach from the right side of the box for her third of the season to cut it to 2-1, but those would turn out to be the only goals scored on the night as the Bulldogs held the one-goal lead at halftime and made it stand up following a solid 45 minutes in the second half.
The Bulldogs ended up leading Tennessee 18-10 in the shot column, with Garcia's nine shots pacing the Bulldogs from her spot at center forward. Bella Hartley had three - including a rocket the keeper was able to tip over the crossbar - and Shultis and Eddy had two apiece. Hogrell ended with one save as UT finished with just two shots on goal.
Georgia tonight snapped a three-game losing streak to the Lady Vols, while moving to 8-13 in the all-time series.
The Bulldogs will travel to Starkville for Sunday's 2 p.m. ET match-up vs. MSU. Georgiadogs.com will offer free live audio coverage as well as the Georgia Soccer Live Blog beginning shortly before kickoff.
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