THOMASVILLE, Ga. — The Thomas University women's soccer team bounced back Wednesday afternoon, rolling past the #24 Grizzlies from Georgia Gwinnett 2-0 for a shutout victory.
The Night Hawks scored early and never looked back, adding another goal later on in the first half.
Both goals were scored off an assist as Elsebeth la Cour Anderson found the back of the net in the first minute. Janae Scott tacked on her first goal of the season later on in the first half to extend the Night Hawk lead.
It did not take the Night Hawks long to strike. Anderson's good look in the opening minutes was place in the bottom corner as Sophia Papas slotted the freshman behind the defense for the opening goal.
After the goal, the teams continued to trade possession and shots before the Night Hawks ultimately broke through the Grizzly defense again in the 38th minute.
This time, the Night Hawks broke through the defense with a transition play, as Janae Scott was fed a perfectly weighted through ball from Sasha Manders. Scott finished the shot down the middle of the net, as all the hard work was done beforehand with the sophomore dribbling past both a center back and the keeper before scoring the open net.
The Grizzlies didn't go down without a fight, as GGC forced two more saves before the break.
Second half action saw the Night Hawk defense continue to lock down the Grizzlies, but in the end it was again two huge saves in the 81st minute that confirmed the TU win.
In the 81st, a quickly ignited transition play put a GGC attacker on goal with only Hannah Keene in net.
The initial shot on transition saw Keen's outstretched arms extending just enough to force the shot into the post, and the very next touch on the ball saw another GGC shot hurling towards net. The senior goalkeeper recovered after the first save just in time to pounce on the goal-line and deny Georgia Gwinnett its opening goal.
The senior tallied her final save of the contest in the 87th minute, as the Night Hawks got back on track in the 2-0 win.
STANDOUT PERFORMANCES:
- Goalkeeper Hannah Keene played all 90 minutes and made six saves in the shutout.
NEWS AND NOTES:
- Thomas moves to 3-4-1 all time against the Grizzlies and today's win marks the first for the Night Hawks since the 2020-21 Spring season.
Up next, Thomas will host its first SUN Conference home game of the season next Saturday, October 1st.
Kickoff at the TU Soccer Complex against #9 Southeastern University is scheduled for 1 pm.
For up-to-date information on this game and other TU Athletics, visit http://www.TUNightHawks.com. Stay up-to-date with news, scores, photos, game summaries, play-by-play, and feature stories of TU Women's soccer by following them on Twitter at @NightHawksWSocc.
