VALDOSTA, Ga. – The Valdosta State Blazers made short work of Spring Hill in Gulf South Conference play on Friday afternoon with a 6-0 win at The VSU Soccer Complex.
With four goals in the contest, sophomore
Ashley Lewis accomplished a feat never before achieved by a Valdosta State Blazer in a single match. In fact, only five times in VSU Soccer history had the entire team scored four or more goals in one match.
The Blazers opened up the scoring in the first half at the 21:34 mark, when
Riley Tennant played a short cross to Lewis, who finished from point blank range to put VSU in front 1-0 with her first goal of the night.
Valdosta State continued to pressure the Badgers throughout the next 20 minutes and put an exclamation point on the first half when Lewis redirected a perfect
Suvi Savolainen entry pass into the net as the horn sounded for a 2-0 Blazer advantage at intermission.
Head Coach
Stephen Andrew's crew turned it up to 11 in the second half, starting with a Tennant goal in the 61
st minute, assisted by
Carley Montgomery. Just five minutes later, Montgomery dished out yet another assist to
Taylor Snell, which lifted Snell's total to six on the year.
Lewis capped off the scoring during a four-minute stretch in the last ten minutes of the match, when
Jamey Medders and
Megan Muffley each offered up assists to propel Lewis to four on the night and a league-leading seven goals on the season.
Valdosta State's six goals tied a school-record, which was set on September 1
st, 2011. That night, Blazer soccer defeated Georgia Southwestern 6-0 in the first official contest in program history. The mark was also matched during the season opener this year in a 6-0 win against Albany State.
"This was great for us tonight," said Andrew after the match. "The team was obviously disappointed after Wednesday's result, but we've been creating chances all season. To see it all come together and to see those shots in the back of the net tonight was encouraging."
Next up, it's a trip to Pensacola on Sunday afternoon, as the Blazers contend with the dangerous Argonauts of West Florida. The match is slated for a 1:30 p.m. EST start, with live coverage available via links at www.vstateblazers.com.
