VALDOSTA, Ga. – The Lee women’s soccer team wrapped up the regular season on Wednesday morning with a hard-fought 1-1 draw with Valdosta State University on the VSU Soccer Complex. The two teams will meet again on Sunday at 1 p.m. in the opening round of the Gulf South Conference playoff which will be played at the Ray Conn Sports Complex.
Lee finished the regular season play with a 6-2-4 conference mark and 6-4-6 overall. They will be seeded fourth in the GSC playoffs. Valdosta State is seeded fifth and closed at 5-4-3, 8-6-3. After the two teams battled almost evenly throughout the first 45 minutes of play, the Blazers managed a goal at the 18:37 mark when Molly Wooldridge received a pass from Jocelyn Oballe and nailed her header into the far side of the net.
The 1-0 first half saw the Blazers fire nine shots and Lee take eight. Avery Sides, Lucy Smith, Ashley Eulo and Tatum Miller had shots on goal that were saved by VSU keeper Claire Timberlake.
The Lady Flames came out firing on all cylinders in the second 45 minutes and completely outplayed the host squad. They finally got on the board at the 68:37 mark when senior Kassidy Kellett fired a line-drive shot from outside the box and past the VSC goalkeeper. It was her first goal of the season and it was unassisted.
Lee had seven other shots on goal in the half that were saved by Blazer keeper. Jordan Blair riffled a head-on blast that was saved. All totaled, the aggressive Grace Berry had three shots turned away. Eulo, Isabella Valentine, and Kellett had other shots on goal in the half. All totaled, Lee outshot the Blazers 11-3 in the second stanza.
For the game, the Lady Flames took 19 shots and placed 12 on target. Valdosta State fired 12 shots and had only three on goal. Timberlake was kept busy with 11 saves while Lee’s defenders and midfielders did their jobs, allowing keeper Abby Whitcomb to come up with two saves on the morning.
The contest saw only five total corner kicks. Lee worked for three and VSU fought for two. In the clean battle, the Lady Flames were called for six fouls and the Blazers, five.
Coach Lee Hughes’ thoughts:
“Honestly, similar to the last few games. We are creating enough chances to win the game, but not putting teams away early enough when we have our chances. I’m happy with the resilience they had to show today, especially after this past weekend and being on the road for the past week. I know the girls are excited for this Sunday!”
