ATLANTA ? The Panthers of Georgia State valiantly battled Virginia Commonwealth at Panthersville on Friday, but fell to the two-time defending champions of the Colonial Athletic Association, 3-2.
The Panthers (3-5-3, 0-1-1 CAA) struck first and early when junior forward Nathalie Carter tapped the ball in net off a rebound from an Amber Collins-Cephers shot in the third minute. But, the Rams of VCU (6-2-2, 2-0 CAA) would score the next three goals to take a two-goal advantage. Georgia State would close the deficit to 3-2 when senior midfielder Collins-Cephers scored off a pass from sophomore forward Kay Harbruger in the 87th minute, but the Panthers were unable to score in the remaining few minutes
“We were able to get the goal we needed to win the game early, but we let them score a deep goal off a punt and tie it was unfortunate,” said Georgia State head coach Domenic Martelli. “We played really well and it was good enough to get a positive result most days. But, against a quality team you have to limit your errors as much as possible, which we did, but they caught us three times and won.”
After the Panthers took an early lead, VCU sophomore midfielder Stephanie Power tied the score with a rocket blast from near midfield off a goalie punt in the 18th minute. The Rams would take a one-goal advantage into the half after scoring a second goal off a Karin Tersteeg header from a Power corner kick in the 30th minute.
Georgia State came out in the second half and looked sharper offensively, but the defense allowed a goal only seven minutes into the period when sophomore defender Laure Dupont struck from just outside the goalie's box.
In an effort to get back in the game, the Panthers pulled an injured defender, junior captain Christa Mann who rolled her ankle, in favor of a fourth forward. The strategy worked when Collins-Cephers scored, but it was too late as the Panthers only had three minutes remaining to tie the score and failed to do so.
Despite the loss, Mann sees promise in the defeat; “We played really well, so it was disappointing to give up the lead there. But, if this is the top team in the conference and we played them this close, I'm eager to see how we fare against the rest of the conference.”
Georgia State recorded seven shots in the loss, while VCU took 17, and each team had four corner kicks. Harbrueger led the team with two shots and five Panthers each recorded one.
Carter's goal, her fifth, ties her season best, set last season.
“You have to give credit to VCU for playing great soccer, but give us credit too for hanging with them,” said Martelli. “We played better this today and this weekend than we have the entire season.”
The Panthers return to action on the road when State visits CAA foe Towson in Towson, Md. on September 29 at 4 p.m.
