Newspaper Page Text
Wednesday
October 5,
2005
Braves beat the Bisons, tie the Sugar Bears 3-3
By Nicholas Kirby
Staff Writer
nkirbyl @my.westga.edu
It was a big weekend
for the West Georgia
Braves soccer team with
two big conference games
on the schedule.
After a win on Friday,
the Braves battled to a
tie on Sunday and now
find themselves ranked
third in the Gulf South
Conference (GSC).
In front of the biggest
crowd of the year at
Observatory Field, the
Braves took on the Harding
Bisons on Friday.
In the first 35 minutes
of play, neither team was
able to make anything
happen, but in the 36th
minute, a familiar name
for West Georgia came
calling. Sara Sohlberg
scored her 14th goal of the
year off a penalty kick to
put the Braves up one.
Four minutes later,
she struck again with an
unassisted goal in the 40th
minute to give the Braves a
2-0 lead going into the half.
In the second half, the
Bisons were able to cut
the lead to one in the 54th
minute, but that would be
all they would get, as West
Georgia’s defense played
hard throughout the game.
The Braves walked away
with the win 2-1.
Braves Head Coach
Gareth O’ Sullivan was
happy to get the win.
“Sometimes a scrappy
win is better than a beautiful
loss,” said O’Sullivan,
“They beat the [3rd ranked]
Braves come up short against the Wonder Boys
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Stan Rowe and the Braves’ running game was slowed down by the Wonder Boys.
Sports
team in the country [Tampa]
last weekend, so it’s a good
result.”
On Sunday, the
Braves took on the Central
Arkansas Sugar Bears.
This time, the Braves
jumped on the board early
with a goal from Brittany
Carr in the 14th minute
and another from Sohlberg
in the 17th minute.
But Central Arkansas
would have an answer. In
the 23rd minute, the Bears’
Katie Tamanaha found the
back of the net to cut the
Braves’ lead to 2-1. That
score would remain as the
teams went into halftime.
Early in the second
half the Bears tied the
game with an unassisted
goal from Lauren King.
A defensive battle
ensued in the next 15
minutes until Carr broke
through again in the 64th
minute with her fifth goal
of the year to give the
Braves the 3-2 advantage.
For a while, it looked
like that would be enough
to get the win, but Central
Arkansas would not quit.
In the 79th minute,
they would tie the game
again to the delight of at
least two very loud Bears
fans in the crowd.
At the end of
regulation, the score
remain tied, and the game
went into overtime, which
consisted of two 10-
minute periods.
In the first overtime,
neither team was able to
mount much of an attack,
and the game remain tied.
West Georgia nearly
came away with the victory
in the second overtime. In
the third minute, a shot
from Midfielder Laura
Wells came within inches
of giving the Braves the
win, but instead it found
the crossbar.
The final seven
minutes were uneventful
for both teams and the
game ended in a 3-3 tie.
West Georgia is now
8-2-1 on the year and 2-0-
1 in the GSC.
Sohlberg now has
16 goals on the year and
leads the conference. She
is also averaging 1.78
goals per game, which
leads the nation.
The Braves hit the
road this weekend for two
conference games against
Alabama-Huntsville and
Lincoln Memorial. They
are at home again Oct.
14 when they welcome
St. Leo to Observatory
Field. The game begins
at 4 p.m.
Inside
the
Numbers:
1.78
Sarah Solberg’s goals
per game average this
season, the best in the
nation
17%
Attendance at Friday’s
home game
Photo by Bobby Moore
Brittany Carr looks for room. The Braves picked up a win and a tie this past week.
By Bobby Moore
Sports Editor
r moo re 7 @my. westga.edu
With a lot on the line,
the West Georgia Braves
football team travelled
to Russelville, AR last
Saturday to face the
undefeated Arkansas Tech
Wonder Boys in a battle
for first place in the Gulf
South Conference.
Thanks to North
Alabama’s double
overtime loss to Central
Arkansas last Thursday
night, the game became a
match-up of the last two
teams with undefeated
conference records.
Thanks to an
outstanding defensive
effort, Arkansas Tech was
able to hold off the Braves
for a 14-9 victory.
The Braves struck
first when linebacker
John Perkins recovered a
fumble by Thomas Hosey
at the Arkansas Tech 32
yard line.
Four plays later, a
54 yard field goal by
Adi Brkic put the Braves
ahead 3-0.
Arkansas Tech
quarterback Jason
Campbell’s first pass of
the second quarter was
picked off Rico Stevenson
at the Braves 42 yard
ML
line and returned for 32
yards.
Four plays later,
tailback Abe Felix found
the end zone. Brkic’s
extra point attempt
was blocked by Jerald
Marshall, keeping the
Braves’ lead at 9-0.
On the next drive, a
fumble by ATU’s Antonio
McCoy was recovered
at the 50 yard line by
comerback Breon Ford.
Thanks partly to a
holding penalty called on
their first down play, the
Braves were unable to
capitalize and had to send
in punter Jeff Carpenter,
whose punt was blocked
and recovered at the
Braves’ 39 yard line by
ATU’s Johnny Rawls.
Four plays later,
Campbell tossed a 32
yard touchdown pass to
Mark Caldwell, cutting
the Braves’ lead to 9-7.
On their next
posession, the Wonder
Boys would take the lead
as Campbell and Caldwell
hooked up again, this time
from five yards out.
Outside of a missed
field goal by Brkic,
the Braves would not
threaten to score again, as
the Wonder Boys defense
was able to shut them
down in the second half.
One week after
Carpenter only had to
punt once, he was called
on 11 times, averaging
44.4 yards per punt.
For the Braves,
quarterback Keats
Balwdin went 11-for-30
with 71 yards passing in
the game.
On the ground, the
Braves outgained the
Wonder Boys 130 to 27.
The one bright spot
for the Braves may have
been that the offense
did not commit a single
turnover in the game.
West Georgia will
return home this weekend
for the 2005 homecoming
game against West Alabama
at 2 p.m. The game will
be held at Carrollton’s
Grisham Stadium.
Inside
the
Numbers:
3
Fumbles recovered by
John Perkins in GSC
games. Also the num
ber of fumbles forced
by Brandon Jamison.
Both stats lead the
GSC.