By: KSU Sports Information
Box Score
KENNESAW, Ga. – Alma Gardarsdottir snapped a 0-0 tie in the 85th minute, scoring the first collegiate goal of her career and the first ever goal at her team’s new facility to give the Kennesaw State Owls women’s soccer team a 1-0 victory over Jacksonville State in the team’s first exhibition match of the season on a beautiful evening at KSU Soccer Stadium.
The win gives the Owls a 1-0 record to begin their preseason, while the Gamecocks fall to 0-1.
The two squads battled for much of the second half, with both sides getting some good opportunities. The Owls did a good job of maintaining possession in the second half, and that finally paid off in the 85th minute.
Freshman Alma Gardarsdottir, who just arrived in the United States from her native Iceland less than two weeks ago, dribbled past a defender and cranked a shot from just outside the box that sailed over the outstretched hands of the Jacksonville State goalkeeper Ali Koenig and just under the crossbar into the back of the net to give KSU a 1-0 lead with under five minutes to play, an advantage they would not relinquish.
“It’s an honor to score our program’s first goal in this stadium,” said Gardarsdottir after the game. “I had some space and was able to get a touch and just made a good kick that found the goal.”
Jacksonville State had the first quality scoring opportunity of the match in the first minute of play. Nathalee Lariviere launched a shot towards the top left corner of the goal but KSU goalkeeper Staci Pugh made a diving save to keep the game scoreless.
After the first minute of play the two teams settled in defensively as there were few quality scoring chances for the rest of the half.
Three other freshmen entered the game in the first half to make their collegiate debuts as well as Katelyn Rikel came in at the 28th minute, Ashley Gray entered in the 32nd minute and Olivia McKenzie made her debut on the pitch in the 41st minute.
“We wanted to make sure that we played well tonight, but we also wanted to give a lot of our players the opportunity to get in a game situation,” said Owls head coach Rob King. “I’m happy to see that a lot of what I’ve had them work on in practice was applied in the game this evening, and that they’ve definitely been listening to what we’ve been teaching them. We still have a lot to do and a lot to tweak, but this was a good start to the season.”
The box score reflects how evenly the first half was played. The Owls outshot the Gamecocks 6-4, but Jacksonville State had the edge in corner kicks at 2-1. The game ended with the Black and Gold holding a 14-9 advantage in the shot department.
Owls goalkeepers Staci Pugh and Melissa Hutto combined for seven saves in the shutout, each seeing one half of action.
The Owls will host Georgia College and State University in their last preseason tune up this coming Tuesday at KSU Soccer Stadium, with a start-time of 6 p.m. Tuesday night is Welcome Back Student Night. All KSU students in attendance are welcome to enjoy a tailgate featuring free food and Coca-Cola products. Tickets for the general public are $6, and are $4 for children who are in eighth grade or younger. As always, admission is free for all KSU students.
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Coach King reflects on the Owls' 1-0 victory on Saturday evening.
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