ATLANTA – Sophomore Sarah Bennett's game-winning goal in overtime propelled the Georgia State women's soccer team to its first ever victory over Colonial Athletic Association foe James Madison on Friday evening at Panthersville. The Panthers' 2-1 win took head coach Domenic Martelli to a landmark 100 career wins and improves their season record to 10-3-1.

Both goals scored represent the seventh goals of the season for freshman forward Jewel Evans and Bennett. Senior forward Stephanie Cuccia notched her fifth assist of the season on the first score of the game. Sophomore Erin Hill added one assist on the game-winner to take her season total to two. Junior goalkeeper Kellianne Collins continued to impress, playing the entire 100 minutes and registering eight saves to capture the win.

Georgia State's win against James Madison (7-6, 3-2) represents the first time it has triumphed over the Dukes in the teams' six total meetings. James Madison entered Friday's competition picked as the preseason favorite in the CAA coaches' poll and ranked No. 4 in the Mid-Atlantic region.

“Going into a game against James Madison, the preseason No. 1 favorite, you look at improving every time from every game and in every facet of the game,” said Martelli. “We've done a great job getting ourselves prepared for every game and starting our games the right way. That is what we did today, we came out today in the first half very strong. The team is starting to believe in themselves and understand. They understand our role and the team concept. They understand what we need to do to shut down the other team and get the ultimate win.”

The Panthers struck first at the 38:05 mark when senior forward Stephanie Cuccia connected with Evans for the third time this season. Cuccia passed a ball from the left side of the pitch to Evans, who fired a shot past the James Madison goalkeeper into the right corner of the net to give the Panthers a 1-0 lead going into halftime.

Despite a strong showing by the Panther defense in the second half, James Madison found the late equalizer with a goal from Duke forward Cate Tisinger at the 88:53 minute mark to even the score.

With just 16 seconds left in regulation, James Madison was awarded a penalty kick. Becky Sparks fired a shot but Collins denied James Madison the winning-goal with an impressive save and regulation ended with the score tied one apiece.

“Kellianne's save on the penalty kick was unbelievable,” said Martelli. “Going into overtime, that was such a huge motivation for the team. We went out just like we did in the first and second half and created chances that ultimately led to the winning goal.”

Bennett's game winner came just over five minutes into the first overtime with an assist from Hill. Hill chipped in a pass to Bennett who was perfectly placed at the left side of the goal to knock the ball in past the keeper and capture the victory for the Panthers.

Georgia State returns to competition on Sunday, Oct. 10 at 12 p.m. as they look for its fifth conference win against VCU.