University of Georgia Athletics
UGA Attack Shows Promise In Exhibition Win
August 17, 2015 | Soccer
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Aug. 17, 2015
By John Frierson
UGAAA Staff Writer
ATHENS, Ga. -- It took a while for the Georgia women's soccer team to find its offensive rhythm Saturday night at the Turner Soccer Complex. But when the Bulldogs did, in their first and only exhibition, against Furman, they really got rolling.
"I'm really excited about our offense after seeing what we did tonight," said junior forward Marion Crowder, a second-team All-SEC player last season.
Georgia is still a work in progress under first-year coach Billy Lesesne and his staff, who made some very effective changes in the second half. The Bulldogs led 1-0 at the break, following a well-placed rebound strike in the bottom left corner of the goal by forward Kelsey Killean in the 18th minute, off a deflected shot by midfielder Stephanie Krouskos.
The Bulldogs' offense in the first half featured a little too much one-on-one and too much dribbling, but that changed in the second. Lesesne shuffled some players around, moving freshman Sydney Shultis into the midfield and moving Crowder to the outside to stretch the defense.
"Once we established our width and our rhythm, I thought we were pretty successful," Lesesne said. "I thought our final-third (of the field) decisions in the first half were not very good, but got a lot better in the second half."
Shultis' play in the middle directing traffic to the outside started to make a big difference as the second half went along. Georgia's scoring chances were the result of combination passes to open targets and they eventually paid big dividends with three second-half goals.
"I felt like all of us got control of the ball more and we weren't forcing it. We got control of it and had good possession," Shultis said. "It wasn't just one player; the whole team played really great in the second half."
The Dogs took a 2-0 lead with 19:50 to play in the game when redshirt sophomore midfielder Maddie Burdick drilled a hard shot off the bottom of the crossbar that Furman goalkeeper Maggie Grisell had no chance of corralling. Instead it was 5-foot-3 Georgia freshman forward Clara Gastaldi that headed the ball in for the goal.
"I'm usually not the one to get the balls out of the air," Gastaldi said. "I was on the goal and that was a nice shot by Maddie and I just got the rebound. I was just there to put it away."
Less than three minutes later, in probably the prettiest sequence of the match, Shultis sent a perfect touch pass up the left side to Crowder, who attracted several Paladins toward the left corner, opening up the middle. Crowder then delivered a cross into the middle to Lauren Tanner, who knocked it in for a 3-0 advantage.
"The last couple of goals were really nice team goals," Lesesne said. "It wasn't a player doing it all herself, it was nice combinations that led to goals."
Gastaldi set up the Dogs' final goal with a drive into the right side of the box. Drawing her defender in with several jukes and feints, Gastaldi passed the ball into the middle to senior forward Andie Fontanetta for an easy put-away.
"I think that kind of collectively we thought the first five or 10 minutes of each half were a little rough, getting our rhythm in, and I think the changes that were made for the second half were great," Crowder said. "I think they're brilliant coaches and they're going to play around with different things, and I think that was the great thing about this exhibition. It gave them a chance to put people in different positions and try a lot of people out."
While the offense took a little while to get rolling, Georgia's defense was stout throughout. Sophomore goalkeeper Louise Hogrell was rarely challenged and stopped the only two shots on goal.
Georgia opens its season with four straight road games, beginning Friday at High Point.
John Frierson is a staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Hall of Fame at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex. You can follow him on Twitter: @FriersonFiles and @ITAHallofFame.
