October 7, 2010

ANDERSON, SC – The 25th-ranked North Georgia women's soccer team put their first-ever national ranking to the test on Thursday evening, traveling to Anderson University and coming from behind to defeat the Trojans 3-1 in non-conference action.

The Lady Saints win their ninth straight game, improving to 10-1 on the year and a perfect 5-0 away from Dahlonega, while Anderson's struggles continue, falling to 4-7-1 on the year, having dropped six of their last seven contests.

The Trojans started out on fire, catching the Lady Saints off guard as Carrie Settled found a deflection off a defensive player and sent a header past North Georgia keeper Kirsten Ross to give Anderson a 1-0 advantage. The goal at the 15:20 mark was Settle's sixth score of the year as the Trojans held a one-goal lead heading into intermission.

The Lady Saints would finally break through in the 56th minute as the duo of Casey Smith and Samantha Abrahart connected for what has become the most popular tandem in the league. Abrahart's equalizer was her PBC-leading 10 goal of the year, while Smith recorded her national-leading 12th assists of the season.

North Georgia continued their second-half surge just 12 minutes later as Emily Dover scored in her second straight game in the 68th minute to give the Lady Saints their first lead of the day at 2-1. Abrahart found herself on the other end of the goal, picking up her fifth assists of the year, while Dover notched her fourth goal of the 2010 campaign.

Danielle Brannan added some insurance late, taking a pass from Kelsey Martin and finishing from 25 yards out in the 86 minute to seal the road victory. For Brannan, the junior records her second goal of the season, while Martin tallied her first helper of the year on the play.

After the first-half goal, North Georgia shut down the Trojan attack, allowing just one shot in the second period, while the Lady Saints never backed down, recording 10 shots with seven of those on goal.

The nationally ranked Lady Saints will take a much-needed rest before gearing up for the toughest portion of their schedule in the coming weeks, including five straight Peach Belt Conference contests, with two of those coming against teams ranked in the nation's top 10.

North Georgia returns to action next Tuesday, welcoming GCSU to town for a conference showdown. The Bobcats, fresh off an upset of 8th-ranked Armstrong Atlantic, will look to upend their second-straight ranked team, while the Lady Saints however, have their sights set on 10 straight wins as kickoff is scheduled for 5:00 p.m. in Dahlonega.