Mercer 4, Georgia Southern 1
STATESBORO, Ga. - Mercer sophomore Catie Marshalek (Lewisville, Texas) and freshman Meghan Castaldo (Atlanta, Ga.) each tallied a goal and an assist to lead the Bears to a 4-1 win over Georgia Southern in women’s soccer action Wednesday afternoon from Eagle Field.
Mercer ends a nine-match losing streak to the Eagles, dating back to 1994. The series currently stands in favor of GSU 9-2. MU improves to 2-1 on the season while Georgia Southern falls to 1-2.
Marshalek and Castaldo teamed up for Mercer’s first goal just 14 seconds into the match, but minutes later GSU freshman Audrey Brown (Fort Worth, Texas) scored on a corner kick at the 6:35 mark to even the match.
Marshalek’s goal is tied for the 13th fastest in NCAA Division I history.
The score remained tied until freshman Ashley Cook (Charlotte, N.C.) headed home a corner kick from Marshalek with 2:15 left in the half.
The Bears put the match away early in the second period as sophomore Caitlin McDonald (Roswell, Ga.) and Castaldo found the back of the net less than three minutes apart. McDonald’s goal came at the 48:52 mark, driving home a loose ball just outside the six-yard box, and Castaldo ended the scoring 6:25 into the second half.
Mercer senior Lauren Burch (McDonough, Ga.) went the first 79:46 in goal before giving way to freshman Fio Lanfranco (Miami, Fla.). Burch allowed the one goal with three saves while Lanfranco had two stops. Sophomore Laura-Ashley Harris (Jonesboro, Ga.) made seven saves for the Eagles.
UT-Martin 6, Chattanooga 0
MARTIN, Tenn. ? The UT-Martin women’s soccer team struck early and often Wednesday afternoon as the Skyhawks defeated Chattanooga 6-0.
The Skyhawks, 2-1, got off five goals in the first half outshooting the Lady Mocs 12-6 in the period. At the 3:39 mark, Jamie Ohlheiser knocked in the first goal of the game to give the Skyhawks a 1-0 lead. Martin outshot Chattanooga 21-16 and the Lady Mocs tallied five corner kicks to one for UTM.
Chattanooga keeper Stacey Matthiessen tallied three saves and gave up four goals in 25:50. Emily Cornett entered the game at that point and remained in the net for the remainder of the game. The sophomore notched five saves with just two goals-against.
Chattanooga, 0-2, held off the Skyhawks in the second half allowing just one goal on nine shots. UTC outshot Martin 10-9 in the second half.