Charleston, S.C. – The Citadel twice battled back from deficits in the second half before a goal by Alex Murphy gave Georgia Southern the lead for good in a 3-2 victory over the Bulldogs in a Southern Conference women's soccer game Sunday at WLI Field.

The Citadel (3-8-2, 1-5 SoCon) got goals from Nicole Levermann and Jill Meyer, the latter tying the game with 6:49 remaining. But the Eagles (4-7-2, 2-2-1) responded just 20 seconds later when Murphy corralled the ball inside the box and her shot hit off the crossbar and tucked inside the goal.

The loss was just the second in the past six games for the Bulldogs against the defending SoCon champions.

The Citadel peppered the Georgia Southern goal with 16 shots in the second half after trailing 1-0 at intermission on an Eagle goal by Nora El-Shami. The Bulldogs appeared to tie the game in the 60th minute when Levermann attempted to put in an indirect kick by Meyer, but the referees ruled that Levermann did not make contact with the ball, negating the tally.

It didn't take long after that for the Bulldogs to even the game for the first time, with Levermann tapping in a shot off a corner kick by Lea Raedle in the 68th minute for her second goal of the season and 14th of her career. Raedle's assist was her team-leading sixth of the year and came at the end of a stretch of four corners for The Citadel in just over a minute.

The Eagles retook the lead 10 minutes later when a Murphy shot was stopped by Naomi Carter, but Caitlin Tongco put in the rebound to give Georgia Southern a 2-1 advantage. It stayed that way for just six minutes when a direct kick by Meyer was misjudged by Eagle netminder Molly Williams and found its way into the net to even the game at two.

The goal was Meyer's first of the season to go along with three assists, and she has now scored five goals in her career.

Carter, the SoCon leader in saves, stopped nine Eagle shots and has 118 on the season while Williams had five saves for Georgia Southern. The Bulldogs finished with a 20-18 advantage in shots after trailing 8-4 at halftime and attempted 13 corner kicks to four for the Eagles.

The Bulldogs hit the road for the final time during the regular season when they play at Samford on Friday and Chattanooga on Sunday. The Citadel then plays its final three games at home beginning with an Oct. 25 contest against Appalachian State.

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