The Troy women’s soccer team opened its season with a thrilling 2-1 victory over Eastern Washington at the Troy Soccer Complex last Thursday. Newcomer Georgia Mulholland shined in her collegiate debut.
“First career goal; what a great goal, and what a great finish,” said head coach Stuart Gore. “I’m so happy for Georgia.
“It’s always difficult when you transfer because it’s a lottery, and she took it greatly. I’m so proud of her.”
Mulholland transferred to Troy after redshirting her freshman season at Baylor. The Missouri City, Texas native is adapting to an unfamiliar environment and a new position.
“I was really shocked, honestly,” Mulholland said. “This was my first collegiate game because I redshirted at Baylor and then transferred.
“It’s also a new position for me. I came from playing center back to outside mid, and I wasn’t expecting that. I love Troy, and I feel like I have found my home here.”
The redshirt freshman found the net for the very first time in her collegiate career to break the deadlock in the 28th minute and give the Trojans a 1-0 lead. However, Eastern Washington’s attack was relentless to finish the opening half, and graduate senior Isabelle Herting found the back of the net with a header off a corner by junior Delani Walker.
“We gave them a bit of momentum, and they were getting corner after corner, and we caused our own problems really with the goal,” Gore said. “It was a ‘Welcome to College Soccer’ moment for the freshmen and they realized they are no longer playing club soccer.”
The Eagles had all the momentum heading into halftime. However, the Trojans tightened up in the second half and dominated in all aspects of the game.
“Coach Stu really encouraged us to keep the energy up,” Mulholland said. “We knew that they had momentum coming out of halftime because they scored in the last minutes of the first half, but he encouraged us to open the half hard and to keep fighting, and I was really proud of the team.
“When Delaney scored the second goal, I was really happy, and I think everyone just wanted to hold on to that and not make the same mistake that we did in the first half, and I think we did very well with that.”
Senior midfielder Delaney Wells was the late game hero for Troy after scoring the fourth goal of her Trojan career. The Flower Mound, Texas native netted her first goal of the season in the 77th minute of the game when she received Danielle Trovato’s corner and headed it past the keeper.
Not only did the captain write her name into the scoresheet for the first time this season, but Wells also set a career high with four shots in a single game.
The Trojans’ defense looked stronger than ever to finish the game, and senior goalkeeper Une Georgsen led the charge. The 6-foot veteran goalkeeper tied her career high with six saves in a single game, and Troy’s back line smothered the Eagles to eliminate any good scoring chances and close out their first win of the season.
“In the second half, we tightened up and got our momentum back to push through the latter stages of the game,” Gore said.
Troy starts its first road trip of the season on Thursday, Aug. 22 against Mercer with kick off scheduled for 6:00 p.m. The Trojans will then travel to Birmingham, Alabama to face in-state rival Samford on Sunday, Aug. 25 with kick off scheduled for 3:00 p.m. Both games will be streamed on ESPN+.
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