Georgia soccer made history on Sunday.
Georgia defeated No. 10 ranked and No. 1 seeded Arkansas 1-0 to seize its first SEC Championship title in program history.
“I can’t begin to tell you how proud I am of these women,” Georgia head coach Keidane McAlpine said. “When you think of the adversity that we went through in this tournament and this game, it’s unbelievable. I’m so proud of them.”
In just the seventh minute of the match, graduate forward Hannah White attempted to complete an assist from fellow graduate Mallie Mackenzie, but the Arkansas goalkeeper Phoebe Carver knocked the ball into the goal to give the Bulldogs a 1-0 lead. Georgia has now tallied two goals against Arkansas this season, both of which were own goals by Carver.
The Georgia offense was outshot by Arkansas with an 18-7 margin and a 7-3 shot on goal margin. However, even with these numbers, the Georgia defense still held off the Arkansas attacks.
Graduate senior Croix Bethune led the Bulldogs in this match with two shots on goal. Bethune also had two goals of the entire tournament — one of the few players to do so — which led her to receive SEC Tournament MVP honors.
Meanwhile, the Georgia defense was led by sophomore goalkeeper Jordan Brown, who tallied a total of seven saves throughout the match and netted her fifth shutout victory of the season. In addition to these seven saves, Brown had her first shot on goal of the season after a free kick was awarded to the Bulldogs late in the first half.
Alongside Bethune and Brown, both McKenzie and White were selected to the SEC All-Tournament Team.
Coming back from her red card suspension, redshirt freshman Summer Denigan started the second half off strong for the Bulldogs with an aggressive offensive attack, which ended in a shot on goal saved by the Arkansas goalkeeper.
Late in the 86th minute of the second half, Bethune received an assist from White that nearly ended in a 2-0 lead for the Bulldogs, but was saved by Carver.
Earlier in the season the Bulldogs faced the Razorbacks and lost 2-1, this rematch exactly a month later showed a more dominant and mature Georgia offense and a stout defense.
The Razorbacks ended the match with a final goal attempt in the remaining 27 seconds of the game with a header saved by Brown and booted away to secure the SEC Championship victory for the Bulldogs.
This was the third time in program history that the Bulldogs have appeared in the SEC tournament championship game, but the first time in the history of the program that they have secured the victory.
The Bulldogs automatically qualified for the tournament with a win over the Razorbacks but must wait for their opponent to be selected. The NCAA Women’s Soccer Championship Selection Show will air Monday at 4 p.m. on NCAA.com, where the Bulldogs will get an opponent and match time for next weekend’s first round of play.
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