The Georgia Southern University women’s soccer team got their wings clipped on Oct. 7 by The Citadel Bulldogs 2-4 at home.

The Eagles were coming off of a tie at the College of Charleston, while the Bulldogs had lost two straight games. The fire The Citadel played with was not indicative of a 3-8-1 team.

“I think we took them seriously, however in SoCon the way that it is now it doesn’t matter if they’re 3 and 8.  Every game is going to be highly contested, and every match is going to be whoever plays better that day,” head coach Lindsey Vanderspiegel said.

The Eagles tried to set the tone the way it did during last year’s 2-0 victory over The Citadel.  In that game, senior forward Courtney Collins scored two goals in the first half.

On Sunday Collins scored the first goal on a penalty kick.  Staring down the goalkeeper, Collins went right foot, right corner in the 22^nd minute to give GSU the lead.

“I had a little confidence going into the game both last year and today, but it’s unfortunate with the result today.  Can’t really think about the goals,” Collins said.

The Bulldogs bit back fast on junior forward/midfielder Mariana Garcia’s left footed goal in the 39^th minute.  She put away sophomore midfielder Nicholle Griffith’s assist from 20 yards out.

The teams went into half time all square at 1-1.

The Eagles surrendered three goals to the Bulldogs in the second half while playing with a one-man advantage. Bulldogs freshman defender Taylor Darling received a red card in the 59^th minute leaving the Bulldogs with 9 field players.

Bulldogs junior forward Nicole Levermann started the second half scoring in the 66^th minute thanks to a Jullian Meyer assist.

Junior forward/midfielder Mariana Garcia added her team leading 10^th goal of the year in the 70^th minute.  She put home freshman forward Jannel Johnson’s shot that rebounded off the post.

Alex Murphy tried to stop the onslaught with her third goal of the year in the 74^th minute.  Freshman forward Callie O’Connor set her up nice at the top of the box and Murphy did the rest.

With the score at 3-2, The Citadel freshman forward Johnson to put the nail in the coffin with an unassisted goal, making the score 4-2.

“We didn’t match the intensity. We should’ve expected The Citadel to be a physical presence.  We just didn’t match the intensity today, disappointing,” Vanderspiegel said.

The loss drops GSU to 6-4-4 on the season with a Southern Conference record of 2-3-1.