The Red and Black

Issue date: 9/26/08 Section: Sports

Kristin Garman interview

The Georgia women's soccer team hopes to replicate the magic from last year's Southeastern Conference run as it hits the road to open up SEC play today.

The Bulldogs play No. 16 Florida tonight, and Sunday the team travels to Columbia, S.C. to take on the University of South Carolina.

Last season, Georgia defeated both Florida and South Carolina by 2-1 scorelines en route to a record-breaking season.

However, having lost five straight games to non-conference opponents, the Bulldogs are content putting past games behind them and starting anew in the SEC.

"It's just exciting because we have a fresh start," senior defender Kristin Garman said. "It's kind of a clean slate. We definitely have learned a lot, though, from the past games. So we can take what we've learned and start new."

But a road trip to face traditional SEC powerhouse Florida is not an ideal way to begin conference play.

"The teams in our conference are just as good as the teams we've been playing, so it's not like there is going to be a drop in level against the teams we're facing," sophomore midfielder Marah Falle said.

After beating Georgia 4-1 to win the SEC Tournament last season, the Gators once again field a talented team. In addition to U.S. U-23 Women's National Team player and senior forward Ameera Abdullah, the Bulldogs also need to keep a close eye on Tahnai Annis, a dangerous freshman midfielder who leads the Gators with four goals on the season.

Georgia's backline will be bolstered by the return of sophomore defender Kelli Corless, who had been suspended.

"There [are] definitely some personality players that we have to be very aware of and try to limit their impact in the game," Georgia head coach Patrick Baker said.

Though the game against Florida is the bigger of the weekend, the South Carolina Gamecocks are not pushovers, either.

"[The Gamecocks] remind me a lot of us last year," Baker said. "They've got a lot of young players, and they've got a great rotation already established. They're winning a lot of close games, 1-0 games."

Another thing that could work against the Bulldogs is the team's level of fitness. Because of a rash of injuries early in the season, Baker expressed concern about the team's fitness and stamina.

"Coming out of the weekend, we realized because of our early season injuries, we're not at full health, which means we're not as fit as we'd like to be at this point in time in the season," Baker said.

The fitness concerns make Georgia's trip to Florida and South Carolina that much tougher, as the Bulldogs already face a difficult task in coming away from the Georgia-Florida rivalry with a result.

"Any Georgia team that goes down to compete against Florida is going to be in for a rude awakening," Baker said. "You really can't prepare your players for that until they've gone through it."

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