Caleb Bailey, Sports Editor
The Armstrong State soccer team fell in their season opener Monday, Sept. 5, against Embry-Riddle. However, they turned things around over the weekend with two big wins during the Georgia College Bobcat Shootout in Milledgeville.
The Pirates used a three-goal first half Friday, Sept. 9, to pull out their first win of the season over the then-undefeated Anderson Trojans. The team used a 30-7 shot advantage to win the game at the home of Peach Belt rival Georgia College.
Two of the Pirates’ three goals in the first half came off the foot of junior forward Amanda Green. She took an assist from Sarah Olin in the first 10 minutes of the game.
10 minutes later, Green took a pass from Jenny Allen and dribbled her way down the field past defenders. She struck from 15 feet out and put the Pirates up 2-0 in the early goings of the contest.
Late in the first half, the Trojans finally answered the Pirates as Hannah Liner put her team on the board. But it was not much longer before the Pirates got back out to two-goal lead thanks to an unassisted goal from freshman Miranda Lucas from 20 yards out.
The Pirates were more lenient on defense in the second half as they allowed the Trojans five of their seven shots in. However, senior goalkeeper Erica Laurens had a magnificent day in goal.
Armstrong added to their lead late in the game as Olin took an assist from Lauren Yoss and scored on a cross from the left side, making the final score 4-1.
“We tried a new formation on Friday and it really allowed me to get in behind defenders to score easy goals,” Green said. “But I definitely couldn’t have done it without Jenny and Sarah, who got the ball to me.”
On Sunday, Sept. 11, the Pirates again showed their offensive dominant as they outshot the Valdosta State Blazers 35-1 in their second game of the Bobcat Shootout. The freshmen showed up for the Pirates as both Ashley Lewis and Renae Moken both scored their the first goals of their collegiate careers.
The Pirates took a 1-0 lead into the half, but could have had a lot more after getting off 20 shots in the first half. They wasted little time getting back on the board as Allen connected on her first goal of the season thanks to Olin’s second assist of the weekend.
Armstrong moved on to a 3-0 win over the Blazers and will certainly take this momentum into the rest of the season.
“This weekend was a good response to our loss to open the season,” head coach Eric Faulconer said. “We had six different players score our seven goals and I really like to have that offensive balance. We were also solid defensively, especially on Sunday.”
The Pirates opened the home season Wednesday, Sept. 14, in their first game under the new stadium lights against Tampa University. They will continue their run in the 2016 season as they travel to play the Georgia Southwestern Hurricanes on Saturday, Sept. 17.
