Freshmen Making Their Mark For Bulldogs

By John Frierson
Staff Writer

The story of this Georgia soccer season has in many ways been tied to the No. 19-ranked Bulldogs' talented group of freshmen. Of the 19 players who saw action in the season opener against No. 8 UCLA on Aug. 14, eight of them were freshmen making their collegiate debuts. And two of those, goalkeeper Hannah Folliard and midfielder Ava Stack, are just 17 years old.

Heading into Thursday's game at Texas, six of the top 11 Bulldogs in minutes played are freshmen. And while redshirt junior Summer Denigan (9) and junior Keira Staude (6) lead Georgia (8-3-4 overall, 4-1-2 SEC) in goals scored, the freshmen have found the back of the net often, too. Mya Townes has three goals, Hailey Gordon, Lily Kate Elphick and Stack all have two, and Andrea Lazar has one.

In Top Drawer Soccer's most recent listing of the top 100 freshmen in the country, a trio of Bulldogs are featured: defender Maddy Herniter at No. 13, Folliard at No. 42 and midfielder Ayda Pannell at No. 75. Townes and Folliard have started every game some far, and Herniter has started 13, with Pannell, Stack, Gordon and Elphick all earning at least one start, as well.

Georgia head coach Keidane McAlpine had high expectations for this group when it arrived, with several of them enrolling in the spring to get a head start on their Bulldog careers, and the newcomers haven't disappointed.

Folliard, on the day she would have been starting her senior year of high school if she hadn't reclassified and joined Georgia a year early after returning starter Jordan Brown suffered a knee injury in the offseason, was in goal in the opener against UCLA. Right in front of her, leading the defenders, was Herniter.

"Knowing the club she came from," McAlpine said of Beach FC, which Herniter helped lead to a club under-17 national championship in 2024, "they were asked to play a lot of possession. In the recruiting process, we got to see her be the leader in that position. And the thing I probably liked the most, she was dominant in both boxes. On all the (offensive) set pieces, she went up, and on all the defensive moments, she won the ball that came into the box.

"She had a competitive spirit about her, but she also enjoyed her teammates. So for me, it was that composure in the biggest moments that I really appreciated. It's not that she wasn't emotional, but she had a composure about her in the biggest moments."

Herniter, from Palos Verdes Estates, Calif., said McAlpine had some wise words to her and others during their official recruiting visit. "He told us, you're going to have the highest of highs here, and then you're going to, every single person's going to hit the lowest of lows. And that's very true, but I think it's very important in the transition (to college) that you do find the beauty in the adversity."

Georgia's season began with a 1-0 home loss to UCLA, but soon after, the Bulldogs knocked off 12th-ranked defending NCAA champion North Carolina, 2-0. Georgia's other two games against ranked teams were a 2-0 loss at No. 3 Tennessee and last Friday's 1-0 win at the Turner Soccer Complex over No. 6 Arkansas. Townes scored the game's only goal, off an assist from Gordon.

"There have obviously been some ups and downs, but I think that's a part of life," said Pannell, from Aldie, Va., "I think what makes college so fun is you never really know what to expect. Even when you think you know what to expect, there's always something new to learn and there's always something new to do."

Players like Herniter and Pannell, among others, played for top club programs that can go a long way toward preparing them for the college game, but there is a distinct difference between the two.

"I think the biggest thing is the mentality change," Pannell said. "I think I see it more in practices, too, because in club, I feel like everyone was very hyped for games. But here, it's a different level of hype. Everyone's like, Okay, we have a goal that we set, and you're going to get this goal no matter what. Everybody's super intense at practice, and if we're kind of not focused on practice, we'll regroup with some of our captains or even a transfer like BK (Harris), who will get everyone together. ... It's everyone working together and keeping that standard at practice."

And it's the standard that the current Bulldogs are helping elevate at a program that has always had the potential to be a powerhouse if the right things came together. McAlpine and his staff are making that happen, with three straight NCAA tournament appearances heading into this season and the 2023 SEC tournament championship, the program's first.

"I think the biggest goal for us is to put good people in the building, that are ambitious, that are competitive, and that have a skill set, and let's all go on a common mission to do something that a lot of people didn't think was possible to do," McAlpine said. "And I think with that symmetry of thought in the group, we're having a good time building something great.

"That's what's most exciting about this class. They all chose to come and go on a mission where they, most of them, had chances to go places and actually play with more established programs. But they decided to come here and go, you know what, something special is happening — let's go do it. And that's been exciting."

After Thursday's game at Texas, Georgia wraps up its home schedule on Sunday against Auburn.

Assistant Sports Communications Director John Frierson is the staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Tennis Hall of Fame. You can find his work at: Frierson Files.

University of Georgia Athletics

Players Mentioned

Jordan Brown

Summer Denigan

Lily Kate Elphick

Hannah Folliard

Hailey Gordon

Maddy Herniter

Andrea Lazar

Ayda Pannell

Ava Stack

Mya Townes

Related Videos