Date Posted: 8/31/2005

STATESBORO, Ga. – With an evenly distributed offense and organized defense, the Mercer University women's soccer team defeated intrastate rival Georgia Southern, 4-1, Wednesday afternoon. The victory snapped a nine-match losing streak in the series for the Bears.

Sophomore Catie Marshalek tallied the opening goal 14 seconds into the contest with an assist from freshman Meghan Castaldo, giving the Bears an early lead. Georgia Southern freshman Audrey Brown tied the match off a corner kick in the 7th minute, and what could have turned into a shootout slowed down.

After nearly 36 minutes of scoreless action, freshman Ashley Cook headed a ball home on a corner kick from Marshalek. The Bears (2-1) added to their lead in the second half with unassisted goals from Caitlin McDonald in the 49th minute and Meghan Castaldo in the 52nd minute.

Senior goalkeeper Lauren Burch only faced four shots on goals due to some strong defensive play. "Shelley Wegrzyn and Britni Combs did a good job of organizing the back, and played good defense throughout," said MU head coach Grant Serafy.

The Eagles (1-2) were unable to get their offense on track, getting off a total of five shots on goal and just 11 total shots during the match.

"We carried a lot of momentum from our last victory into today's match," said Serafy. "The two most important things from this game are that we showed some creativity and snapped our nine-game losing streak to Georgia Southern."

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 • Mercer Women's Soccer