COCHRAN, Ga. – The Night Hawks breezed past the Knights 2-0 in a crucial SSAC contest at Nesmith Field on Thursday evening.
The scoreboard stood still until the 65
th minute mark when the reigning SSAC offensive player of the week
Kaitlyn Herb kept pace with a Middle Georgia and chipped the ball toward
Pearl Mortimer who quickly broke out to the outside and placed a cross right back at the feet of Herb who found the back-left corner of the net off of her right foot. After just over a minute in game time later
Ali Baca threaded the needle for a pass to Mortimer who once again found Herb for her tenth score of the season.
Coach
Julie Orlowski said "Could not be prouder of the effort and the adversity this team has overcome. I give credit to MGA [Middle Georgia], we could not get into any rhythm in the first half. And to be fair, we were fortunate to still be at 0-0. But our defense played very well. [They] bent but did not break.
The second half was much better and we found our rhythm early. Herbie found the net after a great defensive effort in the press. Her [Herb] and Pearl were able to create the turnover and take it straight to the goal. When those two [Herb and Mortimer] get going it is hard to stop.
Herbie's second goal was the result of a great tactical effort in the final third. We were able to find her in space and what a quality finish!
From there the defensive effort across all three lines was well played. Emily [Lamoreaux] was able to clean up anything that made its way thru.
Now we need to rest and recover to play a good Brewton Parker team Saturday and honor our seniors."
Lamoreaux stood all 90 minutes in goal with nine total saves and a clean sheet for the 12th of her career against a tough Middle Georgia team. Thomas had nine shots with 6 being on target. Middle Georgia had 17 shots with nine on frame but were not able to convert. Eight Thomas players played the entire duration of the match.This contest marked the third consecutive SSAC win and the third straight game where Herb has scored two or more goals.
Thomas moved to over .500 to 7-6-1. The Night Hawks currently sit at No. 6 in the SSAC standings with 13 points right behind Dalton State. Thomas (7-6-1, 4-3-1 SSAC) returns to action at TU Soccer Complex after over a month of road contests to face conference foe Brewton-Parker (2-9, 2-5 SSAC) and celebrate all six of the seniors. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. EST.
