GSC Championship Page

VALDOSTA, Ga. – The Valdosta State women's soccer team earned the No. 5-seed in the upcoming Gulf South Conference Championship and will travel to Livingston, Ala., for a matchup with No. 4-seed West Alabama Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET. 
 
VSU is coming off a disappointing 5-0 loss at Lee on Saturday in a match to see who would be the No. 3-seed in the conference championship.  The Blazers finished the regular season at 11-6 and were 9-4 in conference play under second year head coach Stephen Andrew.  
 
The 11 wins marked the fourth time VSU has won 11 or more games in a season since the program began in 2011.  Andrew went 10-6-3 in his first season in 2017 with the Blazers.  Entering this past week, VSU sat eighth in the NCAA South Region Rankings and will need a good showing in the conference tournament to earn an at-large berth in the regional, or win the conference tournament for the automatic qualifier. 
 
VSU is 2-4-2 all-time in the GSC Soccer Championship with a tournament title in 2014 as this will be the program's fifth appearance in the eighth year of the program.  VSU has played in two finals, the first in the first year of the program in 2011, with a 5-3 loss to North Alabama, and in 2014 with a 3-0 win over North Alabama.
 
Top-seeded West Florida hosts No. 8-seed Christian Brothers Tuesday, while Lee hosts West Georgia in the 3/6 matchup and No. 7-seed Montevallo travels to No. 2-seed Mississippi College.  The winners will advance to Montgomery, Ala., for the semifinals and finals Friday and Sunday, respectively. 
 
For the season, VSU is led by junior Ashley Lewis who has a team-high 13 goals with two assists for 28 points in a record-breaking season.  She set the all-time school-record for career goals scored and points, while also setting the single season records for goals scored and points in 2018. She has 71 shots with 32 on frame, along with six game winners to lead the team.
 
Second on the team in scoring in junior Riley Tennant who has seven goals with three assists and 17 points.  She has 26 shots with 16 on frame and two game winners.  Senior Mallory McDaniel leads the team with six assists and three goals for 12 points.  McDaniel has 28 shots with 15 on goal.  Between the pipes, Sophomore Caroline Embler is 8-6 with a 1.09 goals against average in 15 matches.  She has allowed 14 goals with 67 saves and recorded five shutouts.  Freshman Samantha Blanford is 3-0 with a 1.68 GAA in eight matches and 15 saves.  
 
As a team, the Blazers have scored 36 goals in 251 shots for a 2.12 goals per game average and a .143 average.  VSU has 127 shots on frame (.506) and is averaging 14.8 shots per game, along with 29 assists. The Blazers have 72 corner kicks and are 2 for 2 in penalty kicks.  
 
The Blazers dropped a heartbreaker at home to West Alabama this season as UWA's TeMia Pride scored the final two goals to tie the match in the 71^stminute and the winner in overtime in the 94^thminute.  VSU broke a 1-1 tie in the 57^thminute with a goal from sophomore Lexie Hall on a penalty kick, but Pride scored on a header in the 71^stminute and scored the golden goal in overtime.  
 
VSU leads the all-time series with West Alabama 5-2-2 and won last season in Livingston, 4-3.  In that game, Lewis scored the game winner in the 97^thminute as VSU battled back from a 2-0 deficit.  VSU is 2-1-1 all-time against UWA on the road and is 3-1-1 at home.  This will be the first time VSU has faced UWA in the conference tournament.  
 
Check back with vstateblazers.com following Tuesday's match for a complete recap of and stats of the match. Keep up to date on the site with everything on Blazer soccer and all 12 VSU intercollegiate sports throughout the season.