University of Georgia Athletics
Dogs Want More After A&M Upset
October 01, 2015 | Soccer
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By John Frierson
UGAAA Staff Writer
There was pure, unfiltered joy on the field last Sunday at the Turner Soccer Complex. A difficult season for the Georgia soccer team had hit a moment of triumph with a well played and well earned 2-1 upset of the No. 4 team in the country, Texas A&M.
It was just the Bulldogs' second win of the season -- the first came on Sept. 13, a 1-0 victory at Samford -- and for the players, as well as first-year coach Billy Lesesne and his staff, there was meaning and emotion involved when the final whistle sounded and Georgia (2-7-1, 1-3 SEC) had its first win over a top-five team since 2009.
"Remember The Feeling" is an important slogan for the Bulldogs, who say the words and even wear them on their sleeve. Sunday was a day to remember and savor, for sure.
"We've been close and it's good to finally get the one that hopefully will boost some confidence, and hopefully we can use that as a bridge to future success," Lesesne said Wednesday. "This team, regardless of the result, they've keep coming back and giving you a good effort. You knew that ultimately the pieces were going to come together and I was hoping that Sunday was going to be the day, and it was."
Joy, relief and excitement, all present and accounted for. There was something else in the air, a sense that it was about darn time the Bulldogs put a performance like that together.
"I think we were all like, thank goodness, it's over and we can breathe, but at the same time it was like, goodness gracious, why did it take so long?" said a rain-soaked Marion Crowder following Tuesday's practice. "But (the coaches) knew this was coming, it was just a matter of making sure that we didn't get too down and we didn't lose ourselves too much in (the struggles)."
Crowder, who scored Georgia's first goal against A&M, volleying in a rebound after a corner kick in the 25th minute, said one of the things that has most impressed her about this team is how the players have continued to work and stay positive, despite winning just one of its first nine games.
"To be completely, 100-percent honest with you, I was shocked, honestly, every single Friday and Sunday, I thought we came out with this new energy, this new mindset, that this is the game, this is going to be the one," the junior forward said. "A lot of times we were let down in that aspect, and I think it says so much about our team as a whole ... to be able to (stay together) and keep moving forward."
The upset win by the Bulldogs was on paper a shocking result, and the Aggies (9-3, 2-2) dropped from No. 4 to No. 16 in the NSCAA Coaches' poll following the loss. But it wasn't completely out of nowhere for Georgia.
Of the Dogs' seven losses, four were by a single goal: 2-1 at Texas Tech, now ranked No. 15; 1-0 to Clemson, now ranked No. 7; 4-3 at LSU; and 2-1 to Arkansas, two days before beating the Aggies. In the losses at LSU and to the Hogs, the two games before beating the Aggies, Georgia played well enough to win but didn't get it done.
"When we have been playing teams that are supposed to be better than us, we're playing better together," sophomore goalkeeper Louise Hogrell said. "I feel like we have always had high expectations for getting out there and playing teams like that really well. This just proves that we can do it and we need to keep doing what we did last game."
And the thing about a great win during the middle of the season is that you can't sit back and bask in it. There is much more work to be done, starting Friday night at Tennessee (5-1-5, 1-1-2), just as there was much more work to be done at halftime against A&M, when Georgia led 2-0.
"We went into the locker room at halftime and everyone was like, we won a half, (now) we've got to win a game. But if we win this game, this is the team that I know we've been able to be since this summer," Crowder said. "In a sense we were relieved and so excited, but at the same time we were like, OK, the full picture is finally together; the past is seriously, like, over now. This is the team that we have to be from here on out."
The Bulldogs set the bar by beating the Aggies, one of the best wins in school history. Starting Friday and for the rest of the season, they're determined to reach it again -- and then raise it some more.
John Frierson is a staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Tennis Hall of Fame. You can follow him on Twitter: @FriersonFiles and @ITAHallofFame.
