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MOREHEAD, Ky. – Sophomore Devan Jordan scored her third goal of the young season for the Morehead State soccer team Sunday and sophomore Jillian Birchmeier scored her 10th career goal, but visiting Georgia State put the ball in the back of the net four times en route to a 4-2 victory over the Eagles at Jayne Stadium. MSU fell to 1-1 in 2009.
Morehead State out-shot the Panthers 17-10, but the Eagles were never able to fully stop the Panther offense. Georgia State scored first for a 1-0 halftime lead and then added their second tally in the 59th minute. The Eagles sliced the deficit in half less than a minute later, but the Panthers responded themselves for a 3-1 lead in the 61st minute. Birchmeier scored to make it a 3-2 match in the 76th minute, but the Panthers put it away with another goal in the 83rd minute.
“One team finished their opportunities today and one team didn’t,” said MSU head coach Warren Lipka. “We didn’t put away our chances. We took care of the ball much better than we did on Friday (against Valparaiso), and in the first 30 minutes we were all over them. But, unless goals are scored when you’re all over them, it doesn’t mean anything.”
In the 37th minute, Georgia State’s Sarah Bennett slipped past the Eagle defense on the left side of the net. She took a pass from Stephanie Cuccia and drove a shot past Eagle goalkeeper Lily Meisner for a 1-0 lead. The teams went the locker room with the Eagles holding a 9-3 advantage in total shots but the Panthers leading on the scoreboard.
Fourteen minutes into the final period, Georgia State increased its lead to 2-0. Apryl Goodwin scored the first of her two goals off an Erinique Owens assist. The duo would later hook up again on the panthers’ final goal.
Jordan, who scored twice in Friday’s season opener, once again called her own number and dribbled through the Panther defense. She drilled a 15-yard shot past Panther keeper Heidi Blankenship.
Georgia State’s Carly Lafferty added to her team’s lead only 37 seconds later. She was able to deflect a ball in the box to the back of the net. Lani Huntley was credited with an assist.
Birchmeier then pulled MSU back to within 3-2 at 76:26. Senior Lindsay Stefanini sent a pass across the box from left to right where Birchmeier collected it and calmly placed a shot past an advancing Blankenship.
The Panthers’ final goal came off a free kick after an Eagle foul. Owens lofted a high pass into the box where Goodwin was able to knock it past Meisner.
The Eagles had nine shots on goal, and Blankenship made seven saves. MSU also had a 9-4 advantage in corner kicks but could only generate two shots off corner kick opportunities. Meisner stopped four Panther shots on goal.
Morehead State travels to Oxford, Miss., next weekend where it will face University of Mississippi on Friday, Aug. 28 at 8 p.m. EST and Mississippi State on Sunday, Aug. 30 at 11:30 a.m. EST.
