Arkansas State's Sydoney Clarke scored the match's lone goal in the 84th minute to give the Red Wolves a 1-0 Sun Belt Conference women's soccer victory over host Georgia Southern on Sunday afternoon at Eagle Field.
A week after the Eagles (2-3-5, 1-1-2 SBC) tallied a goal at the 83:07 mark to defeat Old Dominion, 1-0, this time it was Clarke scoring the goal at the 83:02 mark to give Arkansas State (5-4-2, 3-1 SBC) the one-goal victory. Georgia Southern returns to action on Thursday, traveling to Marshall for a 7 p.m. Sun Belt match with the Thundering Herd in Morgantown, W. Va.
Georgia Southern dominated the first half, holding an 8-4 edge in shots and a 6-1 edge in corner kicks, while holding Arkansas State without a shot on goal in the first 45 minutes.
The second half saw much more even play back and forth, but the game turned on a goal kick for the Red Wolves in the 83rd minute. Olivia Luther's service to the left was fed to recent sub Abigail Miller, who found a streaking Darby Stotts. Stotts then fed Clarke at the top of the box, and Clarke moved right and uncorked a shot that beat Georgia Southern goalkeeper Michaela Mikko in the center of the net for the lead.
The Eagles pushed for the equalizer, but junior Sade Heinrichs' last-second shot attempt with the clock winding down went high.
Arkansas State finished the match with a 13-11 edge in shots, including a 9-3 edge in the second half. Mikko and Luther each collected three saves apiece on the day. Georgia Southern held a 9-3 edge in corner kicks, and the Eagles were whistled for nine fouls. Arkansas State committed five fouls and had a pair of offsides on the day.
"In the first half, we had a lot of chances," Georgia Southern Head Women's Soccer Coach Chris Adams said. "We had eight shots and six corners. But that's been the story of our season so far, we don't have a killer instinct and we don't put teams away when we get the opportunity. So you let teams hang around, and they find a way to nick a goal and get the result. We just have to be better, that's all there is to it. We had too many chances to not come away with a goal. We've leaned too much on our defense. So today, when we give up one goal, our attack is not what it needed to be, and that becomes enough for them to get the result. We'll go back to work, head back on the road at a very good Marshall team, who are very athletic. We'll have to execute better than we did today."
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