Blazer women’s soccer heads to Mississippi College for GSC quarterfinals
Published 5:00 pm Tuesday, October 31, 2023
VALDOSTA — The Valdosta State women’s soccer team was awarded the No. 6-seed in the upcoming Gulf South Conference Women’s Soccer Championship and will travel to No. 3-seed Mississippi College on Saturday, Nov. 4 for the quarterfinal round of the tournament. Game time is set for 2 p.m. ET.
The Blazers finished the regular season with an 8-5-4 record overall and tied with West Georgia in both the regular season finale (1-1) and in conference play as each had a 6-5-2 record. UWG earned the No. 7-seed in the tournament and will travel to No. 2-seed Lee. Top-seeded West Florida hosts No. 8-seed West Alabama and No. 5-seed Union visits No. 4-seed Montevallo. Each of the winners of the quarterfinal matches will advance to Huntsville, Ala., with the winner of the VSU/MC match battling the winner of the Lee/UWG match on Thursday, Nov. 9 at 7 p.m. ET. The GSC Championship match is set for Saturday, Nov. 11 at 1 p.m. ET. All matches will be broadcast on FloSports.
VSU is making its tenth appearance in the GSC postseason tournament as the program won the title in 2014. The Blazers are 2-8-2 in the tournament and have advanced on both ties in penalty kicks. This is the first time VSU and MC have met in the conference tournament. VSU began women’s soccer in 2011 as the 12th intercollegiate athletic program.
In the regular season matchup this season with the Choctaws, VSU held its first lead on MC in nine meetings as senior Ana Moleka scored 12:10 into the contest on an assist from junior Molly Wooldridge.
The Choctaws leveled the match at 1-1 in the 31st minute on a goal from Irene Lores and took a 2-1 lead in the 49th minute on the eventual game winner from Margherita Giubilato. Despite the loss, VSU had multiple chances at the equalizer as the Blazers hit the post on a pair of shots and MC netminder Jessi Carro made two saves (five for the match) in the second half.
MC leads the all-time series 8-0-1 and has won eight-straight dating back to the first meeting in a 1-1 tie on Oct. 5, 2014, in Valdosta. MC is 5-0 in Clinton, Miss., versus VSU.