The Red and Black

Issue date: 10/13/08 Section: Sports

Media Credit: DANIEL SHIREY Senior defender Kristen Garman kicks the ball during the soccer game against Kentucky on Sunday. [Click to enlarge]

Media Credit: ILANA MCQUINN Carrie Patterson kicks the ball upfield during Georgia's 2-0 win over Vanderbilt on Friday.

The Georgia women's soccer team picked up two crucial Southeastern Conference wins this weekend as it continues to climb up the SEC standings.

The Bulldogs (5-8-1, 3-2-1 SEC) posted a comfortable 3-1 win over Kentucky Sunday afternoon and defeated Vanderbilt 2-0 Friday night. The back-to-back wins are the first for Georgia this season.

After enduring a tough non-conference schedule earlier in the season, the Bulldogs are starting to build some momentum heading down the SEC stretch.

"At the beginning of the year, we struggled a little bit," sophomore midfielder Caroline Simpson said. "But I think our team is starting to show a lot of promise. We're playing like a team, and it's starting to show."

Sunday's match against Kentucky got off to an inconspicuous start, as neither team had any real chances in the first half.

But the second half was a much different story. Simpson was fouled in the Wildcats' penalty area and buried the ensuing penalty kick to give Georgia a 1-0 lead.

Kentucky tied the game on a Nicola Holdsworth score after a bad clearance from Georgia's back line.

Minutes later, though, Miller fired home a well-taken shot to restore Georgia's lead at 2-1. The goal was her fifth of the season, tying her for the team-lead with junior forward Carrie Patterson.

Red shirt freshman midfielder Alex Hooker rounded out the scoring to make it 3-1 with mere seconds left in the game.

"It feels good to get a goal," Hooker said. "It had been a while since we had a shutout, which we did on Friday, and then [we got] back-to-back wins for the first time all year. So it feels good."

In the 2-0 win over Vanderbilt, the Bulldogs posted their first clean sheet since the season-opening win over Mercer on Aug. 22.

"We finally shut a team out and that's what we've been trying to do all year," junior midfielder Natalie Farley said. "We haven't been able to pull very many of those out."

Despite missing a penalty kick, Georgia had long-range goals by Farley and freshman forward Ashley Miller in the first half that gave the Bulldogs a 2-0 lead they would not relinquish.

With a tough road trip to Mississippi on the horizon, Georgia knows these wins will provide a big confidence boost as the team positions itself for an NCAA tournament bid during the SEC stretch.

"It's amazing what some wins can do," head coach Patrick Baker said. "Now you can almost maybe see the light at the end of the tunnel. Now we just have to keep taking it one game at a time."

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