2008 Woodie Awards
Women's soccer wins one, loses one in Utah
Issue date: 8/29/08 Section: Sports
SALT LAKE CITY - The Georgia Bulldogs concluded their two game road trip by splitting its games after a 2-1 win against Utah Sunday in Salt Lake City.
Sophomore Marah Falle scored both goals in her first game of the 2008 season, and an improved defensive effort were the differences in the game, coach Patrick Baker said.
"After an embarrassing loss on Friday night, I thought our young ladies responded very well today," he said. "It was great to have Marah Falle back and I thought she brought individual dimensions that we needed in the starting lineup. The back line did a nice job and Megan Tomlinson was her stellar self at center back."
The win Sunday helps eliminate some of the bitterness from Friday's game against BYU, where the Bulldogs struggled both offensively and defensively in a 4-1 loss.
In the first half of Sunday's game, Utah had more offensive scoring chances, putting three of its seven shots on goal. Georgia's offense couldn't get much going during the first 45 minutes, getting away only four shots and one of those was on goal.
The second half, however, saw an increased emphasis on the offensive side of the ball for both teams. All three goals came in the second half and each side got a goal within the first 10 minutes of the second half.
Georgia struck first in the 50th minute with Falle's first goal. Georgia had a corner kick that was initially cleared by the Utah defense, but Falle was ready from 20 yards out and fired the rebound back toward goal, where it found the right side of the net to give the Bulldogs a 1-0 lead.
Utah came right back less than three minutes later. In tight space in front of the Bulldog net, Chelsea Forbes got a shot past keeper Michelle Betos to tie the score.
The game remained close the rest of the way, with each team having their chances to get the decisive goal.
That goal would come in the 86th minute with Falle getting her second goal of the game. Midfielder Traci Dressen played a ball into space down the right side of the field, where forward Carrie Patterson caught up to it and lobbed a ball toward the six-yard box, where Falle headed it past the Utah keeper to give the Bulldogs a 2-1 lead, and ultimately the victory.
"I was excited to play with the team again because it has been a long time since I was able to play with them," she said. "I was hoping for the win, but I didn't expect that I was going to have such an impact. We rose to the challenge and we were able to do what we needed to do to get a win from the weekend. It says a lot about our team chemistry."
With the win, the Bulldogs were able to salvage a 1-1 split of the weekend's games and put give themselves some confidence heading into next weekend, where the Bulldogs schedule won't get any easier.
"With the strength of our non-conference schedule any win is a great result," Baker said. "It was imperative to come out 2-1-0 after Friday's loss as we prepare for two top 10 opponents in Virginia and Stanford. We will have to continue to work hard and improve this week. I am very proud of the effort and commitment our team showed today."
On Friday, the Bulldogs welcome No. 7 Virginia to the UGA Soccer Stadium and on Saturday, Georgia will host No. 10 Stanford.
- Georgia Sports Communications
Sophomore Marah Falle scored both goals in her first game of the 2008 season, and an improved defensive effort were the differences in the game, coach Patrick Baker said.
"After an embarrassing loss on Friday night, I thought our young ladies responded very well today," he said. "It was great to have Marah Falle back and I thought she brought individual dimensions that we needed in the starting lineup. The back line did a nice job and Megan Tomlinson was her stellar self at center back."
The win Sunday helps eliminate some of the bitterness from Friday's game against BYU, where the Bulldogs struggled both offensively and defensively in a 4-1 loss.
In the first half of Sunday's game, Utah had more offensive scoring chances, putting three of its seven shots on goal. Georgia's offense couldn't get much going during the first 45 minutes, getting away only four shots and one of those was on goal.
The second half, however, saw an increased emphasis on the offensive side of the ball for both teams. All three goals came in the second half and each side got a goal within the first 10 minutes of the second half.
Georgia struck first in the 50th minute with Falle's first goal. Georgia had a corner kick that was initially cleared by the Utah defense, but Falle was ready from 20 yards out and fired the rebound back toward goal, where it found the right side of the net to give the Bulldogs a 1-0 lead.
Utah came right back less than three minutes later. In tight space in front of the Bulldog net, Chelsea Forbes got a shot past keeper Michelle Betos to tie the score.
The game remained close the rest of the way, with each team having their chances to get the decisive goal.
That goal would come in the 86th minute with Falle getting her second goal of the game. Midfielder Traci Dressen played a ball into space down the right side of the field, where forward Carrie Patterson caught up to it and lobbed a ball toward the six-yard box, where Falle headed it past the Utah keeper to give the Bulldogs a 2-1 lead, and ultimately the victory.
"I was excited to play with the team again because it has been a long time since I was able to play with them," she said. "I was hoping for the win, but I didn't expect that I was going to have such an impact. We rose to the challenge and we were able to do what we needed to do to get a win from the weekend. It says a lot about our team chemistry."
With the win, the Bulldogs were able to salvage a 1-1 split of the weekend's games and put give themselves some confidence heading into next weekend, where the Bulldogs schedule won't get any easier.
"With the strength of our non-conference schedule any win is a great result," Baker said. "It was imperative to come out 2-1-0 after Friday's loss as we prepare for two top 10 opponents in Virginia and Stanford. We will have to continue to work hard and improve this week. I am very proud of the effort and commitment our team showed today."
On Friday, the Bulldogs welcome No. 7 Virginia to the UGA Soccer Stadium and on Saturday, Georgia will host No. 10 Stanford.
- Georgia Sports Communications
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