ATLANTA, GA. --- Heidi Blankenship tied a school-record for saves, topping 16 shots, to shut out regionally fourth-ranked Hofstra and earn a 0-0 double overtime tie for Georgia State on Senior Day Sunday at Panthersville.

“Heidi [Blankenship] always has one huge, game-saving save, and then about ten more that stops,” said Georgia State head coach Domenic Martelli. “Stephanie [Cuccia] came in and gave us some great, really smart minutes, made some great passes to get us in position to score. We’ve played well against three of the top four teams in the
conference. We know, now, that we can play with anybody. Game in and game out we’ve given ourselves that one chance to win the game.”

Blankenship ties Jennifer Espinal's single-game record set on three occasions, once in 1999 and twice in 2001. Her 16 saves mark the ninth highest total in a single-game in the nation this season. Blankenship also bests her career-high which she set Friday night in a 14 save effort against Northeastern.

Georgia State (7-4-5, 1-3-4) picked up their seventh shutout of the season to earn the draw with Hofstra (9-4-2, 6-1-1). Blankenship earns credit for her sixth shutout of the year.

“It was a beautiful senior day, a beautiful parents’ weekend,” said Martelli. “We had such a great turnout and a great reception after. It was a great weekend to have the best two teams in the conference coming in and having all that support. We’re really thankful for that, and for all the people that helped us to make it a success.”

The Panthers’ best opportunity came in the first minute of overtime when sophomore Erinique Owens fired a deep shot off of a throw-in.

Owens threw the ball in only to have a Hofstra defender head it back to her feet. Owens blasted a shot from beyond the goal box that hit the crossbar and bounced straight down behind the goalkeeper. The Georgia State contingent thought the game-winner was scored, but the head referee motioned for play to continue, signaling that the ball had not crossed the goal line.

The Georgia State defense was once again up against a constantly attacking offense. Hofstra put 18 shots on goal and had eight corner kick opportunities. Panther defenders came up big, however, clearing several balls out of dangerous territory.

Freshman Jocelyn Baker marked Herrman trophy watch-list member Tiffany Yovino for the entire game, limiting her to one shot on goal.

Georgia State has only allowed two goals in the past six games, and have played to double-overtime in four games in a row.

Seniors Kari Quinn, Caitlin Smith, and Virginia Wood were recognized before the game for Senior Day. All three started the game.

Next week, the Panthers travel to Delaware on Friday for a 7 p.m. kickoff and finish the weekend on Sunday with a 12 p.m. match against Drexel.

“We’re a smart, organized, hard working, defensive team and we do things to get ourselves good, dangerous chances,” said Martelli. “I think we’ve come a long, long way as such a young team. With these next three games
we have an opportunity to play well and finish the season on a really high note.”

“We got great minutes from our three seniors on senior day. We have three ties that could have gone our way and given us a win, but now we have three more that can be wins. It’s a great conference and day in, day out you see contests that can go either way.”