Birmingham, Ala. | An early goal in the 14’ by senior Bella Hartley on a penalty kick lifted the Georgia soccer team (1-5-1, 0-1) over Samford (4-4-0) 1-0 on Sunday night in Birmingham, Alabama. The win marks the first of the season for the Bulldogs and the first for head coach Billy Lesesne.
Coach Lesesne was very pleased with the grit his team showed to earn the victory.
“It was nice to put a good first-half together,” said Lesesne. “To just get a goal out of that first-half was very rewarding. The second-half we helped just manage the game. They put a lot of numbers forward and put a lot of pressure on us. I thought we did a decent job of managing the extra pressure they put on us and that enabled us to come out with the victory. I’m very pleased with the effort and also with the result.
In the 14’ a Samford player was called for a handball in the box after a back and forth affair near the Samford goal. Georgia called on one of its senior leaders, defender Bella Hartley to step up and take the penalty kick and Hartley delivered for the Bulldogs, burying the shot into the back right corner of the net to put her team up 1-0.
Lesesne knew who he was going to in a situation like that and his senior stepped up.
“We’ve interviewed several players and she’s one who has stepped up each time,” said Lesesne. “We keep track of how many they make and how many they miss and she’s been very consistent in her PK taking. I was glad to see she was confident because you always want someone with confidence taking it. She did was she had to do.”
The Bulldogs controlled a large chunk of the remainder of the first-half following Hartley’s goal. Every time Samford seemed to have the upper-hand heading towards the Georgia goal, a Bulldog defender stepped up and made a play to stop anything Samford had to offer. Georgia nearly scored its second goal of the first-half in the final seconds of the period when Lauren Tanner snuck by the Samford defense and fired a shot from ten yards out. A nice save by Samford’s goalkeeper, Katie Peters, deflected Tanner’s attempt.
The second-half started slow for both squads with neither team able to establish anything in the first ten minutes of the period. It wasn’t until the 56’ before Georgia got things rolling in the second-half. Mariel Gutierrez found Marion Crowder and the speedy forward came up with a near-score, but her attempt was negated by the Samford goalkeeper.
Andie Fontanetta attempted a header later in the half from the Samford box, but Peters was there to make the save. Samford quickly swung things around earning a corner of their own. Georgia goalkeeper Louise Hogrell was able to punch Samford’s cross out of the air and keep the scoreboard clean.
The final ten minutes Samford amped up its effort trying to find the equalizer, but Georgia answered everyone on of its attempts. The Bulldogs were even able to sneak Kelsey Killean by the defense, but the junior forward wasn’t able to get a clean shot off while being chased by a herd of Samford defenders.
The Bulldogs owned the overall shot chart 11-10. Georgia attempted one corner kick to Samford’s four. Hogrell finished the game with four saves.
The Bulldogs have a short turnaround when they head to Baton Rouge, Louisiana on Thursday at 7 p.m. ET to take on LSU in their second SEC game of the season. The Tigers are 5-1-2 and are coming off of a 1-0 victory over #21 Duke.
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Bella Hartley's goal lifts UGA soccer to victory over Samford
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