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Georgia Athletics
Photo: Georgia Athletics
CLEMSON, S.C. – Outlasting a wild final half hour of play, the fourth-seeded University of Georgia soccer team advanced to its second Sweet 16 in program history with a 3-2 win over fifth-seeded Iowa Friday afternoon at Historic Riggs Field.
With the win, Georgia (13-4-5, 4-3-3 SEC) reached the Third Round for the first time since the 1998 season, when the Bulldogs‘ inaugural senior class defeated Virginia to reach the Sweet 16. Georgia will face the winner of the Clemson-Columbia second-round match on Sunday, Nov. 19 at 2 p.m.
Redshirt senior midfielder Nicole Vernis led Georgia with four shots, with the Bulldogs tallying 11 for the match as opposed to 10 from Iowa (13-5-4, 3-4-3 Big Ten). Sophomore goalkeeper Jordan Brown notched five saves in the win.
The Bulldogs‘ early moments were quiet, with the team only tallying two shots in the first 40 minutes of play. The Bulldogs played aggressively, racking up five fouls in the period and earning a pair of corner kicks. As the half wore on, the Georgia attack revved up, including a strike from Vernis that veered left with four minutes to go. Despite the finishing touches, the teams entered the locker room scoreless.
The sleepy pace persisted into the second half until a tense situation in the 56th minute as an Iowa free kick narrowly missed the right post and was played out of danger by the Georgia defense. In the subsequent moments, the match would transform with three quick goals in succession.
In the 60th minute, Vernis, fresh off the bench, slid past the Hawkeye defense to deposit a cross from freshman defender Virginia Odom. For Vernis, it tied her for the team lead with her sixth score of the season, while it was the first career assist for freshman Odom. The lead was short-lived, however, as Iowa’s Millie Greer knocked in a free kick from goalkeeper Macy Enneking in the 63rd minute, set up by a yellow card on redshirt freshman midfielder Summer Denigan.
The barrage continued three minutes later as senior defender Taylor Rish took advantage of a fallen Hawkeye defender to loft the ball over Enneking for the go-ahead goal. Rish’s first score of the season was set up by an assist from graduate forward Hannah White, her second of the season. Once again in the lead, the Bulldogs looked to drain the remaining minutes, featuring a clutch save from Brown, but drama would rear its head one more time.
In the 85th minute, Denigan and graduate midfielder Croix Bethune played a textbook back-and-forth sequence that finished with Denigan’s sixth goal of the season. With under two minutes to play, Iowa narrowed the margin with a goal by Kelli McGroarty, but Georgia was able to avoid an equalizer in the final moments.
