Jacksonville women fall to Georgia State

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -  Aug. 20, 2009  The JU women's soccer team couldn't find the final touch on a sweltering day in Hodges Stadium in the last day of the Osprey Classic. The Dolphins fell, 2-0, to Georgia State in a game where JU dominated possession and outshot the Panthers, 21-11.

The Panthers (3-0) scored unexpectedly in the fourth minute when freshman Carly Lafferty controlled a back pass in JU's box and tapped it home. Georgia State doubled their lead in the second half when a foul was committed in the box the third time this season and Bri Cagle slid a ball just past the reach of sophommore Alexa Rooney.

"I'm really proud of the effort we put forth today," said head coach Brian Copham. "We played 90 strong minutes but we were just lacking that final ball today."

If the unexpected start to the game rattled the Dolphins (0-3), they didn't show it; peppering the 18-yard box with crosses throughout the first half, outshooting the Panthers 10-5 in the fist half and forcing sophomore goalkeeper Heidi Blankenship to make four saves.

Redshirt-sophomore Liz Fink led the team with three shots on goal in the half, closely followed by sophomore Jessica Hurtado. Hurtado caused fits for Georgia State's midfield, weaving in and out down the field and finding attackers in space.

The second half produced more of the same from the Dolphins. JU continually pushed up into the attacking third, refusing to let the Panthers clear their lines. The highlight of the second half came during a furious spell of play at the 55-minute mark that saw the Dolphins put three shots on goal in a span of two minutes including twice striking the post.

The pressure was first applied when freshman Lisa Hensley took a ball behind the defense but Blankenship came out to knock the ball away. Freshman Emily Culbreth then fired a ball from the right side, taking a deflection off the right post before Hensley took another shot, finding the underside of the crossbar.

In the 82nd minute, Hensley again took a strong shot that was just kept off the line by Blankenship amid calls for a goal from the Dolphins.

Four JU players recorded three or more shots on goal in the offensive game for JU. Fink led the team with five, followed by Hensley (4), Hurtado (3) and Culbreth (3).

The Dolphins will be back on the field again on Friday when they take on Furman at 7 p.m.