Clayton State Rolls Past UNC Pembroke 5-0

MORROW, Ga. – November 3, 2009 – The Clayton State Laker men’s soccer team took its first step towards a Peach Belt Conference Tournament championship, and vented some offensive frustrations at the same time on Tuesday.

Playing host to UNC Pembroke in the 2009 PBC Tournament quarterfinals, the Lakers got a season-high in goals in a game in route to a 5-0 rout over the visiting Braves at Laker Field. The victory improves Clayton State to 11-5-1 overall and the Lakers advance to PBC Tournament semifinals for the eighth time in program history.

Clayton State will face the winner of Lander and USC Aiken on Friday at 5 p.m. at Blanchard Woods Park in Augusta.

The shutout was a PBC-leading 10th on the season for Clayton State, and the Lakers have allowed only a mere two goals in their last nine games. Meanwhile, three Lakers scored goals in the process offensively.

Senior forward Matthias Faublas accounted for two Clayton State goals. He gave the Lakers a 1-0 lead in the 20th minute on a breakaway down the middle off an assist by Leighton Fredericks. Faublas’ second goal came in the 68th minute off an assist by Alargie Jobe to finish off the Clayton State scoring.

In addition, the Lakers also had goals by Sam Bevan in the 23rd minute, Igor Lukic in the 25th minute and Fredericks scored in the 49th minute. Senior midfielder Kyle Timm tied a Clayton State single-game mark for assists with three.

Clayton State goalkeeper David Cristofoli lowered his season goals-against average to 0.86 by recording five saves with the shutout. Tom Courtney recorded four saves for UNC Pembroke (8-8-2).

Lander Advances Past USC Aiken 2-0

GREENWOOD - Adam Arthur scored both goals as the second-seeded Lander men's soccer team advanced to the Peach Belt Conference Tournament semifinals with a 2-0 quarterfinal victory over No. 7 seed USC Aiken Tuesday night, setting the stage for a rematch with Clayton State on Friday.

The Bearcats, 11-5-1, will face Clayton Friday afternoon at 5 p.m. on Field 3 at Blanchard Woods Park in Evans, Ga., outside Augusta. The No. 3 seed Lakers shut out sixth-seeded UNC Pembroke, 5-0, in a PBC quarterfinal match earlier Tuesday evening. Clayton State, also 11-5-1, has 10 shutouts this season and has allowed only two goals in its last nine games.

Lander defeated the Lakers, 1-0, in an important Peach Belt regular season finale on Saturday, with the Bearcats' Jamie Ramm scoring the game's only goal. The win clinched second place for Lander in the regular season standings.

The Bearcats wasted no time in taking the lead against USC Aiken (7-11-1) Tuesday. Arthur scored off an assist from Ben Jones just 5:05 into the match. Arthur nailed the shot from the left side, approximately 10 yards out, into the right side of the net.

The score remained 1-0 until the 70:21 mark when Arthur scored his 14th goal of the season with a five-yard shot from the right side off Samy Beydoun's corner kick. Even after that goal, the Pacers were out-shooting Lander 9-8.

The Bearcats held on the rest of the way. USC Aiken had an 11-8 edge in shots and 6-3 in corner kicks. Lander goalkeeper Matthew Atkinson had three saves while USC Aiken's Andray Charles had two stops.

Hough's Goal Lifts Flagler Past North Georgia in OT

ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. - Mack Hough (St. Augustine, Fla./ Pedro Menendez HS) scored the game's only goal in the first overtime Tuesday night to lift Flagler past North Georgia College and State University in a Peach Belt Conference tournament quarterfinal matchup at Saints Field.

Hough took a pass from Will Frandsen (Orange Park, Fla./ Orange Park HS) in the 91st minute and shot past NGCSU's Rade Tanaskovic in the back-left corner from 13 yards out.

In the first half, the game appeared to be heading towards a high-scoring affair. NGCSU fired 11 shots while Flagler shot 10.

NGCSU's Justin Gonzalez gave the Saints its best opportunity to take an early lead, but his shot in the box missed left.

Flagler's Eammon Murphy (Winter Springs, Fla./ Winter Springs HS) nearly scored a goal but his header bounced off the goal post and was cleared.

In the second half, Flagler had seven corner kicks but were unable to break the scoreless tie.

Tanaskovic saved four shots for NGCSU, while Flagler goalkeeper Matt Gilman (Ocala, Fla./ Jacksonville Univ.) saved three.

Hough's goal, just 69 seconds into the first overtime, helps Flagler advance to the PBC tournament semifinals.

UM Advances to PBC Semifinals With Overtime Win

MONTEVALLO, Ala. - The University of Montevallo men's soccer team (10-6-1) used a 2-1 overtime victory to advance to the semifinals of the Peach Belt Conference Tournament. The Falcons defeated visiting Francis Marion University (11-5-3) 5:46 into the first overtime off a goal from freshman Arran McCarthy (Lancashire, England/Preston North End).

The Falcons and Patriots played a scoreless first half with neither team gaining much of an advantage. The Falcons held the lead in shots 7-3 and had blasted the FMU goalkeeper with five shots on goal.

The second half was a much different story with both teams attacking the net. The Falcons struck first as Alex Ghoja (Elkmont, Ala./Bob Jones) fired a bending shot past the goalkeeper from just outside the 18-yard box. Sophomore Matt Maughn (Toronto, Ontario/St. Marcellinus) fed the ball into McCarthy who passed it out to Ghoja for the blast.

With just under 11 minutes left in regulation the Patriots struck on a similar shot by Ivan Juric who found the corner of the net to tie the game at one.

The Falcons controlled the ball for the entire overtime period as they earned a pair of corner kicks prior to the game-winning shot.

With 4:14 left in the first overtime period junior Nathaniel Foster (Brampton, Ontario/Humberview Secondary School) raced down the left side of the field and crossed a ball into the box that was kicked at and missed but a sliding McCarthy was able to put just enough on the ball to send it past the keeper for the game-ending score.

The Falcons will now head to Blanchard Woods Park in Evans, Ga. to take on Flagler College in the semifinals of the Peach Belt Conference Tournament. The match will be played this Friday, Nov. 6 at 7:30 p.m.