EMERSON, Ga.— Georgia State rallied with a second-half goal to tie Troy 1-1 and then advanced on penalty kicks, 4-2, on Friday night in the semifinals of the Sun Belt Women's Soccer Championship at the LakePoint Sport Community just north of Atlanta.
No. 6-seed Georgia State advances to play No. 1-seed South Alabama in the championship match on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. The Jaguars advanced to the final following a 2-2 tie with Appalachian State, advancing on penalty kicks 10-9.
Georgia State and Troy went through a pair of overtimes before reaching penalty kicks where each team scored on its first two opportunities. The Panthers of Coach Derek Leader went ahead 3-2 when Callie O'Connor buried one into the back of the next before Troy's Jasmine Fahrnbauer missed off the side bar to give the Panthers an edge.
Anna Hilpertshauser scored on Georgia State's next opportunity to go ahead 4-2 and when Troy's Kirsten Rendall missed, the Panthers advanced to the championship game.
With the tie, Georgia State now stands 11-5-4, while No. 2 seed Troy finishes its season 14-4-2. Ironically, the two teams also went to overtime just two weeks ago on Georgia State's senior day with the Panthers coming out ahead in double overtime, 2-1.
Troy got on the board first in the 37th minute as Annabell Simpson found the back of the net to give the Trojans a 1-0 lead. Jasmine Fahrnbauer and Kiersten Rendall were credited with assists on the goal.
The Trojans controlled the ball for most of the first half, but only outshot the Panthers 6-4. Troy finished the game outshooting Georgia State 16-13.
Georgia State's All-Sun Belt First-Team member Suzanne Arafa tied the game 1-1 in the 50th minute with a goal on a rebound off the keeper. It was Arafa's team-leading ninth goal of the season and second of the tournament.
The goal proved to be the equalizer into overtime.
Troy entered the match having outscored its opponents 34-12 on the season.
The tournament, originally scheduled to be played at the GSU Soccer Complex, had to be moved north of Atlanta following torrential rains last week that flooded the field.
Notes: The last time Georgia State advanced to or won a women's soccer championship was in 1997. The last time Georgia State advanced to a semifinals was in 2003 in the Atlantic Sun when as a No. 4-seed the Panthers lost to the No. 1-seed in the semifinals. The lowest seed Georgia State had been in a tournament and won was a No. 5-seed in both 2001 and 2000 when they won, but lost the semifinals to the No. 1 seed both times. This is the first time as a No. 6 seed GSU has advanced.
