Georgia women’s soccer splits matches with Wake Forest, College of Charleston

After splitting the first two contests of the season at home, the Georgia women’s soccer team faced its first road test of the year last Thursday night at Wake Forest.

The Demon Deacons entered Thursday’s contest with a 2-0 record with wins over Rhode Island and Milwaukee. It was another tough game for the Bulldogs, whose schedule also included a loss to No. 1 Florida State 3-1 on Sunday. The first half between the Bulldogs and Demon Deacons was a defensive struggle as both teams went into the locker room deadlocked with a score of 0-0.

The Bulldogs defense kept the Demon Deacons off the scoreboard in the first 45 minutes with stifling defense led by senior All-SEC defender Cecily Stoute. The Bulldog offense however, could not capitalize on the Bulldogs’ stellar defense, as the Bulldogs could only muster one shot on goal in the first half. In the 58th minute, a Georgia turnover created a scoring opportunity for the Demon Deacons. The chance to score was tackled away by UCLA transfer and Mountain View grad Dasia Torbert. With just under 14 minutes remaining in the game, Wake Forest struck first as Tyla Ochoa gave the Demon Deacons the lead off a corner kick.

After falling 1-0 on the road, Georgia began a run through the “softer” part of their non-conference schedule, as the Bulldogs hosted College of Charleston. In their meeting last season, the Bulldogs were victorious in Charleston, winning 1-0. In order for the Bulldogs to be victorious Sunday, the Bulldog attack had to create more chances. In the loss to Wake Forest, the Bulldogs’ scoring chances were scarce. Georgia had just two shots on goal.

Looking to get back to .500 on the year, the Bulldogs made some lineup changes in order to kickstart the attack. including giving senior Dani Murguia and sophomore Jessie Dunn their first starts of the season. Georgia’s aggressive offensive tempo paid dividends early, with 10 minutes gone in the game the Bulldogs junior forward Tori Penn used some nifty moves to get past her defender and score her second goal of the season to give Georgia a 1-0 lead.

Early in the game, Georgia had plenty of scoring opportunities inside the box. In the 21st minute, Georgia took advantage of one of those opportunities as senior Abby Boyan scored her 16th career goal and her first of the season to extend the Georgia lead to 2-0. Boyan was assisted by Collins Hill grad Danielle Lewin.

After a fast paced first half, the Bulldogs led College of Charleston 2-0. The Bulldogs took advantage of the aggressiveness of the Cougar goalie, as Faith Ferrer pushed her first goal of the season into the back of the net off an assist from Millie Filson and Georgia’s lead ballooned to 3-0. Georgia continued to add on as the second goal of the year from junior Taylor Rish gave Georgia a 4-0 advantage in the 60th minute. Rish was assisted by Cecily Stoute.

Georgia’s defense preserved the shutout over the final 30 minutes as Georgia improved to 2-2 on the year with a dominant 4-0 victory over College of Charleston.

The Bulldogs will now embark on a short road trip as they take on Kennesaw State and Georgia State next week. Unfortunately for fans, neither one of Georgia’s in-state contests next week have a streaming option. Georgia’s next televised match will be next Thursday, September 8 when the Bulldogs host North Florida.

Tony Walsh