Georgia Falls to Purdue in Season Opener

Thursday, August 22

West Lafayette, IN

7 p.m.

University of Georgia

0-0-0, 0-0-0

Purdue

0-0-0, 0-0-0

Georgia

Purdue

Photo by: Kristin M. Bradshaw

August 22, 2019 | Soccer

Box Score

BOX SCORE

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. --- A late second half goal pushed Purdue over the Georgia soccer team, 1-0, in the season opener at Folk Field on Thursday night.

"It was a tough game," Georgia head coach Billy Lesesne said. "We fought hard and had some good battling out there, but just didn't get the result we were after. Purdue is a good team and this is a tough atmosphere to play in. I thought the game was pretty even for most of it and then they got a late goal. We played hard throughout, but we weren't as clinical in the final third as we need to be. We lost a little bit of our shape in midfield, but there were bright spots. There are things we need to work on to improve. We have to regroup over the next couple of days to prepare for our home opener on Sunday against Binghamton."

With a matured team filling the pitch for the 2019 season, Haley Sorrell is the only freshman that made her starting lineup debut in the season opener. Three other rookies played against the Boilermakers, including Chloe Chapman, Jocelyn Hugo, and Mallie McKenzie.

To start, the Bulldogs (0-1) commanded the field, controlling possession and keeping the Boilermakers outside of the final third. A foul outside the box gave Reagan Glisson a free kick opportunity at the 21-minute mark, which went into the hands of the goalkeeper. The junior forward finished the game with three shots, two on target.

The Boilermakers (1-0) took their first shot of the game with 10 minutes left in the first half.

Both teams turned up the energy in the second half. With about 20 minutes left in the game, Bella Ponzi took a shot outside the 18 that went wide left and Delaney Erwin followed that up with a shot that was barely right of the net for the Bulldogs' best look of the night.

It was Purdue that capitalized on an opportunity in the 82^nd minute with a shot from Sarah Griffith to make the score 1-0.

The Bulldogs finished with seven shots and four saves made by sophomore goalkeeper Emory Wegener.

The home opener for the Bulldogs is set for Sunday, August 25 against Binghamton at 1 p.m. Admission to the Turner Soccer Complex is free.

HOW TO FOLLOW GEORGIA SOCCER: For complete information on Georgia soccer, follow the team on its social media channels via @UGASoccer on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.