Eubanks Golden Goal, Cossette’s Heroics, Push Trojans to OT Win at Mercer

Sunday, February 28

Macon, Ga.

4 p.m.

Troy University

4-9-1, 2-9-1

Mercer

3-6-1, 0-0-0

Troy

Mercer

Eubanks Golden Goal, Cossette’s Heroics, Push Trojans to OT Win at Mercer

2/28/2021 8:13:00 PM | Soccer

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

By: Troy Athletics Communications

MACON, Ga. -- Behind a free-kick goal from Alisa Detlefsen to Kate Eubanks and six clutch saves from sophomore keeper Gaby Cossette, the Troy soccer program dropped Mercer 1-0 Sunday afternoon at Betts Stadium.

With the victory, Troy (4-9-1) has now won three of its last four matches dating back to the Sun Belt Conference Tournament. The stretch began with Troy's 1-0 victory OT over Texas State back on Nov. 2. The Trojans opened the spring slate last Wednesday, dropping Alabama State 3-1 in Montgomery.

On the Bears (3-6-1) fifth shot attempt of the first half, freshman Kendall Cook sent a rising shot in the 13th-minute toward the Trojan net that was saved by Cosette.

A minute later, sophomore Taytum Terrell rocketed a shot that was saved by Mercer keeper Jordyn Ebert. Three minutes later it was another sophomore that tried to the put the Trojans on the board, as Melissa Kuya-Strobel's low shot was also saved by Ebert.

The next best chance to score came Mercer's way in the 29th-minute when Ciara Whitley's shot was saved by Cossette.

Neither side was able to generate much over the final third of the half, as the match went into the break scoreless.

In the second half it was Kuya-Strobel who again tallied a dangerous chance for the Trojans, as her 49^th minute shot was saved by the Mercer keeper.

Just under three minutes later, Mercer again had a dangerous chance when Nicole Icen fired a rising shot that narrowly missed the top-corner of the net and instead hit the bottom part of the cross bar. Cossette calmly and alertly scoop out the rebound and prevented any further damage.

In the 72nd minute, disaster almost struck for the Trojans, as Mercer leading scorer Aliah Kitchens was fouled in the center of the 18-yard box. The foul resulted in a penalty kick being awarded. Kitchens also attempted the PK, sending a missile into the bottom-right corner of the next that Cossette was able to punch away from danger.

With time ticking away, Mercer looked to have found the game-winner in the 88th minute when Brie Pavol found the back of the net, but the Bears were ruled to be offsides.

The call pushed the game into an extra session, where Detlefsen's service found Eubanks from about 25-yards out. The center-back deposited the ball into the bottom of the net for her team-leading third strike of the season.

The Trojans return to action on Mar. 20 at Mississippi State. Kick-off from Starkville is set for 1 p.m.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:
• With the victory the Trojans have now won back-to-back extra session contests.
• Troy improves to 4-5-2 all-time against Mercer.
• Troy's last victory over the Bears came in 2004, a 3-0 victory in Troy. The Trojans last defeated Mercer in Macon during the 2003 season.
• The Trojans improve to 3-1-4 in their last eight overtime games.
• Troy has won four straight non-conference matchups dating back to the 2019 season.
• Eubanks has now scored three goals in back-to-back seasons.
• Cossette's six saves were a career-high.
• The Trojans saved a PK for the first time since the 2018 season. Teams had converted six straight PKs against Troy. The last PK save was Oct. 12, 2018 against Arkansas State.
• Troy has now scored 17 set piece goals in their last 29 games.
• Six of Troy's 13 goals this season have occurred off set pieces.
• Tonight's clean sheet is the Trojans second of the season, and the first of Cossette's career.

GED TALKS:
"This was another good team performance in a tough place to play. Mercer is a really tough and spirited team and I'm really happy to walk away with the victory. We were a little flat at times and didn't play our best soccer, but we're always dangerous on set pieces. Sometimes it's that simple. There are definitely a lot of areas that we need to continue to work on moving forward, but it's great to have competition on our roster and the depth on the bench that can enter a game and make an impact."