Kennesaw State and Georgia State fight to draw in women’s soccer

Release from Kennesaw State Athletics

KENNESAW, Ga. – It was another dramatic chapter in the rivalry series between the Kennesaw State soccer team and Georgia State as senior Iyani Hughes scored in the 71st minute to lift the Owls to a 1-1 overtime tie on Monday night (Aug. 25) at Fifth Third Bank Stadium.
 
“It was a good, hard-fought game between two teams that were pretty even,” head coach Rob King said. “I was a little disappointed that we went down a goal against the run of play. They only had one shot. We were very tight defensively and gave up a goal and then we had to chase the game. But I am very proud with the intensity we kept up all the way through. We dominated the game, dominated possession. We should have really put the game away towards the end. We had one [shot] real close there. It just needed a nudge with any part of the ball and it would have sealed the game.”
 
During a back and forth first half, which saw neither team able to grab hold of the possession, the Panthers drew first blood in the rivalry match as Jenna Moore slipped a pass through the KSU defense to Ashley Nagy, who floated a shot over freshman goalkeeper Mady Carter in the 39th minute.
 
The intensity of the match continued to grow as the minutes ticked down in the second half with both teams having opportunities to change the game one way or another.
 
Hughes would finish her opportunity with just under 20 minutes left in regulation as sophomore Shannon Driscoll fired a shot from outside the 18-yard box that was deflected by GSU goalkeeper Christa Fox straight to the senior, who finished with authority into the back of the net.
 
With less than four minutes remaining in regulation, Carter stepped up in big fashion to turn away a Panther breakaway and send the match into overtime. The Owls had several near misses for the game-winning score in both overtime periods, but KSU could not capitalize as the match finished in a 1-1 double overtime tie.
 
The Owls outshot the Panthers, 16-10, including a 5-1 mark in the two overtime periods, but only registered six on frame. Freshman Mali Kokvoll and Driscoll led the way for KSU with three shots each.
 
Carter, making her second-consecutive start, collected three saves in 110 minutes of action.
 
Nagy posted six shots for the Panthers, who got five saves from Christa Fox.