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Score: Georgia State 3, Kennesaw State 2
Records: Georgia State (2-0-0), Kennesaw State (1-1-0)
Key Players: Brittney Reed (one goal, one assist, 11 shots, eight shots on goal), Cassidy Kemp (one goal, one shot on goal)
 
KENNESAW, Ga. – In a high-paced, back-and-forth match, the Kennesaw State soccer team dropped a 3-2 decision to Georgia State on a hot and humid Monday night (Aug. 24) at the GSU Soccer Complex.
 
Each team produced multiple scoring opportunities in the opening minutes, but the Panthers would not draw first blood until the end of the period when Monique Hundley picked up a loose ball behind the KSU defense and placed into the right corner in the 42nd minute.
 
The Owls took no time in equalizing the match just a minute and 49 seconds later as junior Cassidy Kemp finished her third goal of the season after receiving a ball from redshirt-junior Brittney Reed and cut through a pair of GSU defenders to place the ball into bottom right corner.
 
Just six minutes into the second half, GSU went ahead 2-1 on an Alexis Thomas goal in the 51st minute. KSU responded just a minute and 26 seconds later as Kemp was taken down in the box and Reed converted the ensuing penalty kick.
 
With just over 10 minutes remaining in the match, the Panthers grabbed the eventual game-winner as Callie O'Conner finished a cross from Hundley on the right flank. The Owls pushed for the equalizer, but the GSU backline held the visitors off the scoreboard for the 3-2 win.
 
The Owls return home to Fifth Third Bank Stadium for a pair of matches next weekend, first hosting Chattanooga on Friday (Aug. 28), before taking on Clayton State on Sunday (Aug. 30). Both matches are slated to kick off at 7 p.m.
 
Quotables
"It was a good early game between two pretty evenly balanced sides. It is always a close one. We have played a number of ties. We have edged it a few times and they have edged it also. I think on the balance of play we outshot them 16 to 10 in there, hit the post a couple of times and had one cleared off the line. Had we taken those chances and actually buried those chances, then we would have come out of here with a result. Having said that, we need to defend a little better. The goals that they scored were quite easy goals in that moment. We need to defend a little better inside our box, but it was a good, evenly balanced game. We will learn from it and make sure that we are more organized defensively and a little sharper in front of goal for the next game."
- Kennesaw State Head Coach Rob King
 
Notes
- Junior Cassidy Kemp notched her third goal of the season, ranking her second on the team with seven points.
- Redshirt-junior Brittney Reed posted her team-leading seventh goal of the season on the Owls' first penalty kick of the season and notched her team-leading 15th point on an assist of Kemp's goal.
- In just two contests, Reed has passed last season's goals and points leader, Maggie Gaughan, who totaled six goals and 13 points in 2014.
- KSU outshot the Panthers, 16-10, with 11 of the Owls shots on frame.
- This was the sixth meeting between the Owls and the Panthers, with all but one match in the series decided by a goal or less.
 
To keep up with the latest Kennesaw State soccer news follow the team on Twitter @KSUOwlNation and @KSUOwlsSoccer or by liking Kennesaw State University on Facebook.
 
Fifth Third Bank is the Official Bank of Kennesaw State Athletics. Fifth Third Bank Stadium is the home of women's soccer, women's lacrosse and football, which will play its inaugural season in 2015.