Soccer bests Lipscomb at home

Brady Fitch photo Hailey Phillips celebrates her first collegiate goal with a teammate.

Troy soccer returned home and returned to the win column against Lipscomb on Sunday afternoon.

The Trojans are back to a .500 record after suffering back-to-back losses to Mercer and Samford. The team now sits at 3-2 at the halfway mark of non-conference play after the home win and a victory on Tuesday.

The game was left knotted at zero at halftime, but Troy quickly changed that coming out of the locker room. A first career goal by freshman Hailey Phillips would give the Trojans the 1-0 victory. The goal by Phillips was headed in off an assist by goalkeeper Une Georgson’s free kick from midfield.

“It was a great ball by Une; I tried to hold the outside and made the run through,” said Phillips .“Perfectly tapped off the head right in the goal.

“All credit to Une, it was a great ball right in.”

It was the Trojans best offensive performance of the season, with four shots on goal and 12 attempts, the most of any game this year. After a slow start to the match, the Trojans began to put together more cohesive possessions toward the end of the first half.

“For us, just getting on the ball and trying to turn their back line helped,” said head coach Stuart Gore. “We tried to get up field and squeeze up so that if we lost the ball, we lost it way up field.”

Defensively, it’s the first shutout of the year for Troy.

Georgeson was hard at work in the match. She had six saves against 13 shot attempts to earn her third career shutout. Her previous shutout also came against the Bisons last season.

The win comes at a time when Troy needed it. The team had lost their previous two matchups by a combined 7-0 deficit against Mercer and Samford. Gore praised the team’s efforts to end the win drought.

“Great Performance, and a great team performance,” Gore said. “Great energy from the bench, and I’m really happy to get back to .500.”

The Trojans opened their road trip with a 2-1 win against Nicholls State. Olivia Simpson and Sofia Sasan fueled the offense, scoring the first goals of their collegiate careers.

Troy’s offense exploded for 18 shots, six of which were on goal.

Troy takes on Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on Sunday afternoon.