Valdosta State’s Abbi Edwards (3) competes for the ball with Ally Canganelli (16) of Georgia Southwestern Thursday evening during the first-ever Valdosta State soccer game at the VSU Soccer Complex.

To say the Valdosta State women’s soccer team had a successful first season is an understatement.

The Blazers exceeded expectations and recorded an 11-6-2 record, while earning an appearance in the Gulf South Conference tournament’s championship match.

“I think anywhere in the world, if you are starting up something new, whether it is a team or a business, people are always curious to see how it will work out,” VSU head coach Mel Heinz said. “When your kids get motivated and they work hard, and you match those two together, you are going to get something pretty terrific.”

The first-year success earned Heinz GSC Coach of the Year honors, while freshman Abbi Edwards was named the conference’s Freshman of the Year. Arielle Sabina and Emily Cooper were named to the All-GSC teams along with Edwards.

“To me, it gave me some emotions on the fact that I was shocked for myself, but for the girls,” Heinz said. “You usually have to pay your dues to get those things for your players. I just appreciate the coaches recognizing those players on the field and not voting for kids that have already been playing.”

Along the way, the Blazers had their ups and downs, which was expected since the roster featured 22 true freshmen. Luckily for the Blazers, the season featured a lot more ups than downs.

VSU began its season with an impressive 6-0 rout of Georgia Southwestern, a game that was played in front of 1,577 people — one of the largest crowds in NCAA Division II women’s soccer history — at the brand new soccer complex on the campus of VSU.

From there, the Blazers reeled off three more wins, racing out to a 4-0 start. During the early season success, freshman goalie Olivia Mills posted three shutouts, allowing just one goal, while her team scored 12 goals in that span.

The Blazers’ first down stretch of the season came on Sept. 16 and 18, when they dropped back-to-back games to Tampa and Barry by a combined score of 8-1.

Despite the two-game losing streak, the Blazers didn’t waste time getting back to their winning ways. They posted three straight victories to begin conference play, improving their record to 7-2 on the season heading to Pensacola, Fla. to face powerhouse West Florida. The strength of the Lady Argonauts proved to be too much, as VSU fell 5-0.

“Those games were learning for them,” Heinz said. “That is the level we want to be at. Those are the teams that we look up to, because they have achieved at going to the national tournament. I mean, Tampa has won a national championship. So those teams are on the schedule to give us some flavor and to give us an idea of how to play.”

Following their loss to UWF, the Blazers won four of their next six games heading into the final weekend of the regular season — which included a 1-0 victory over regular season conference champion North Alabama. With a chance to clinch a share of the regular season GSC championship, the Blazers needed a victory over in-state rival West Georgia.

VSU came close, taking an early 1-0 lead before UWG knotted the game even with a goal in the second half. After going scoreless in overtime, the game ended with a 1-1 tie, which dropped the first-year Blazers to the No. 3 seed entering the Gulf South Conference tournament.

Once in Pensacola, Fla. for the GSC tournament, the Blazers had a tough task ahead of them, as they were slated to play West Florida in the opening round. Despite the 5-0 loss to UWF earlier in the season, the Blazers showed little fear when facing the highly-favored Lady Argos. In fact, VSU proved to be a much tougher fight than UWF expected. The Blazers forced the game into overtime with a Leanne Bishop goal with 10:27 remaining.

In the overtime session, the Blazers were the clear aggressor, managing two shots on goal in the final three minutes, compared to UWF’s zero shots on goal. Unfortunately, the Blazers were unable to convert on their shots, thus sending the game into penalty kicks.

In penalty kicks, the Blazers saw an impressive performance from Mills, who stopped West Florida’s third penalty kick shot. After Mills’ save, Edwards and Sabina drilled their penalty kicks, making VSU a perfect five-for-five on penalty kicks, and giving VSU the win. The Blazers advanced to the championship match against North Alabama.

“For soccer fans, for college coaches, for players, I would have wanted to be on any team,” Heinz said. “I mean, I am glad I was with my team, coming out with the win, but I mean it was just a phenomenal end line to end line game. It was hard fought soccer. People definitely got their money’s worth. The game in general was just a phenomenal game. There was a lot of heart out there for both programs.”

In the championship match, the Blazers fell behind to UNA early, a margin which proved to be too much to overcome, as VSU fell to the Lady Lions, 5-3.

After the loss in the conference championship match, the Blazers were kept out of the NCAA South Regional tournament, thus ending their inaugural soccer season.

Despite being kept out of the NCAA tournament in 2011, the Blazers have a lot to be excited about moving forward. Heinz will return nearly her entire team in 2012, to go along with several new additions.