SILOAM SPRINGS, Ark. -- Junior Sienna Nealon scored her third game-winning goal of the season on an outstanding individual effort, and the No. 14 John Brown University women's soccer team posted a 2-0 win over No. 16 Georgia Gwinnett on Saturday (Sept. 28) afternoon at Alumni Field to close out non-conference play.
Coming off a 1-0 win over Oklahoma City on Thursday (Sept. 26) at Alumni Field, the Grizzlies (7-4-1) and leading scorer Joy Mertzig were held off the scoreboard as junior Caitlyn Logan and the JBU back line pieced together its fifth clean sheet of the season.
While neither team scored in the second half, a period where the visitors marginally out-shot the Golden Eagles (5-2-1) by a 6-5 count, Nealon's thievery in the fifth minute stood until sophomore Megan Hutto roofed a blast in the 39th minute to add the JBU insurance policy.
On an ill-advised pass back to GGC keeper Sophie Hoare, Nealon anticipated the outlet pass into negative space and quickly pounced on the opportunity. Hoare was caught in a vulnerable position as Nealon danced her way around the surprised keeper and deposited her third of the season.
While the hosts carried the majority of the possession in the first half, the first emergence of freshman Jenna Miller helped spark a second goal as her cross from the left flank towards goal pushed the Golden Eagle attack forward. Sophomore Alair Love tracked down the ball on the goal line to the right of goal, and sent a hard strike of a pass into the middle that found the foot of Hutto running on goal.
Hutto's second of the season, and second in her last three matches, proved to be more than enough as Logan made three of her four saves in the second half, holding the Grizzly offense, which had averaged 2.2 goals per match entering the contest.
Miranda Robinson and Jenny Stadin each tallied three shot attempts for Georgia Gwinnett, while Nealon, Hutto and senior Kristen Howell put up the same for the hosts.
The win improved the Golden Eagles to 5-1-1 at home and added a much-needed piece to its postseason resume as John Brown only has one top-25 opponent remaining on the 2019 regular season schedule – Science & Arts (Okla.).
Up Next
Luckily with a quick turnaround time, the Golden Eagles won't have to worry about travel as John Brown plays host to Central Christian (Kan.) on Tuesday (Oct. 1) at Alumni Field. The teams are set to battle at 5 p.m. to open Sooner Athletic play.
