VALDOSTA, Ga. – Junior Lauren Hicks rebounded her own missed shot and put it in the back of the net at the 105:10 mark in a 2-1 double overtime victory for the Valdosta State women's soccer team on Senior Day over visiting Shorter University. 
 
Hicks scored her second goal of the spring season with the strike as she drove down the far side and fired as Shorter goalkeeper Emily Lopez made a diving save as the ball caromed off her hands and Hicks cleaned up the mess.  Hicks took a great pass from sophomore Mallory Johnson setting up the winner.  This marked the fifth-straight match for the Blazers in overtime and fourth-straight of double overtime or ending in a tie (3-0-2).  The Blazers improved to 11-10-22 all-time in overtime with the victory.
 
VSU finished the regular season with a 3-1-2 record overall and a 3-0-2 mark in the GSC.  The Blazers will await the conclusion of the rest of the league's final regular season games this weekend to see where VSU will be in the upcoming GSC Spring Championship Series.  Check back with vstateblazers.com on Monday for an update on where the team will be playing over the next few weeks.
 
The Blazers dominated the majority of the match, but struggled putting the ball in the net.  Lopez, however, had a lot to do with that as she recorded 16 saves in the match as VSU tallied 30 shots with 19 on target.  Shorter had seven shots and five on frame for the match.
 
VSU was led by seven shots and three on target from Bailey Hern, while Hicks had six shots and four on goal with the winner.  Johnson had the winning assist, while senior Paige Taylor tallied the first assist on sophomore Rachael Howard's team-leading fourth goal of the season, just 7:34 into the match. 
 
Prior to the match, VSU honored six seniors, two of whom graduated in three years, as they were playing in their final home regular season match in a Blazer uniform.  The 2021 senior class included Nikki De La Garza, Hannah Jenkins, Kira Malpica, Hannah Swenson, Taylor and Lexie Hall.  Best of luck ladies in your future endeavors.  Both Jenkins and Swenson will graduate in three years.  Swenson also earned the prestigious honor of earning the Student-Athlete Academic Award for the Athletic Department for having the highest cumulative grade-point average among juniors or senior student-athletes.
 
Howard streaked down the far side and took a great ball from Taylor putting it past Lopez to the bottom corner for a 1-0 lead at the 7:34 mark.  Howard has scored at least one point in all but one match this season for the Blazers.  Taylor recorded her first assist of the season. 
 
Despite the VSU attack throughout the rest of the first half, the Blazers were unable to get anything past Lopez as she finished the half with six avers on nine shots by VSU.  The Blazers had seven corner kicks in the first half. 
 
VSU had more of the same in the second half, but Lopez was again up to the challenge.  VSU tallied 13 shots in the second half and Lopez came up with seven saves, while VSU had nine corner kicks in the second half alone. 
 
VSU used two goalkeepers in the match as freshman Landon Carter went the first 68:09 minutes and then junior Samantha Blanford finished the game for the final 37:01 as it was her first action since the West Georgia match on Feb. 21. 
 
Juliana Torres fired a deep shot from the near side outside the box and went in leveling the match at one at the 84:29 mark on an assist from Haley Cox.  It was the second goal scored by the Hawks in the six matches this spring. 
 
VSU had four and two saves from Lopez in the first overtime with a number of good looks, but was unable to convert.  In the second overtime, Johnson had a great look off a corner kick, but the Hawks came up with the team save in front of the net.  Howard had a shot sail high, prior to Hicks' two shots and winner.