AMERICUS, Ga. – The Spring Hill College (SHC) women's soccer team broke a 23-match winless streak with a 2-1 non-conference victory over the Georgia Southwestern State University (GSW) Lady 'Canes at GSW Soccer Field on Wednesday afternoon.
 
SHC controlled the first 20 minutes of play by taking four shots to two by GSW and four corner kicks to one for the Lady 'Canes (0-4), but neither team could crack the scoreboard in the first half of play.
 
Badger junior forward Gabrielle Burmaster of Harvey, La., gave SHC its first lead of the season in the 52^nd minute with a nice one-touch tap-in at the face of the goal after freshman Sidney Spivey of Edgewood, Ky., found her with a nifty pass from just outside the box on the right hand side.
 
Spivey worked her passing magic again just three minutes later as she found fellow freshman Lilli Hanks of Tallahasse, Fla., for a tally and a 2-0 Badger advantage.
 
Following her first career victory, Badger head coach Allison Whitworth credited her team's tenacity and leadership. "We are very excited to earn our first win of the season," she said. "It wasn't pretty every moment, but we battled and fought to get two great goals. Our captain Aiesha Ledda [senior, defender, Memphis, Tenn.] led our back line the whole game. Spivey had both assists and impacted play the entire game. The team is beginning to realize what we are capable of doing as a team, but now we have to prepare for AUM on Friday."
 
Sophomore Hannah Shankman (1-3) of Alachua, Fla., earned her first career victory in 14 appearances with nine starts by making six saves against 11 shots and two corners by the 'Canes and allowing just the lone GSW goal with just 38 seconds remaining. For GSW, Sammie Conley took the loss with eight saves versus 21 Badger shots and seven attempts from the corners.
 
SHC had not tasted victory since November 6, 2015 with a 4-1 season-ending victory over Southern Wesleyan University and had not avoided a loss for 13 consecutive games since they fought to a 1-1 draw at Shorter University on October 9, 2016.
 
The Badgers (1-5, 0-3 GSC) will next host the Auburn University Montgomery (AUM) Warhawks (1-3, 0-2 GSC) in a Gulf South Conference (GSC) contest on Friday at 1 p.m. at Library Field.