November 6, 2011

EVANS, GA – After reaching the PBC Tournament title game twice in the past two years and not coming away with the crown, the top-seeded Flagler Saints made the third time the charm as they rallied to beat second-seeded Montevallo 3-1 for their first tournament championship.  The Saints, who improve to 15-3-2 overall with the win, were down 1-0 at halftime to the Falcons, but scored three second-half goals, two from Will Fransden, to win.  Montevallo falls to 12-4-4 with the loss, the Falcons were the defending tournament champions after beating Flagler last year.

With daylight turning to dusk at Blanchard Woods Park, Montevallo went on the attack early but left themselves open to counterattack and were outshot 4-1 in the opening 20 minutes of the game.  That changed with a corner kick 30:25 into play as Ricky Davey headed the corner attempt from Phil Jackson into the crossbar.  Guliano Frano was there for the rebound and buried it into the net for a 1-0 lead.

That lead would hold up for the rest of the half as Flagler had problems maintaining possession, but were still able to take shots, outshooting the Falcons 6-8 in the first half.

Both teams had opportunities to begin the second half as a header from Flagler’s Joseph Toby sailed high, followed minutes later by a pair of Falcon shots; one that went wide and another saved by Saints keeper Camp Bissel. 

Flagler tied the game at the 55:36 mark as Joseph Toby found himself inside the 18-yard-box with all kinds of space and sent a perfect ball to Will Fransden, who headed it home. 

Flagler struck again 12 minutes later as Fransden did the honors again, this time with his feet.  Johan Bergfeld broke free on the right side, sent a ball into Toby who flicked it with his chest over to Fransden.

Montevallo was further hampered by foul trouble as midfielder Ricky Davey picked up his second yellow card of the game at the 72:17 mark, forcing Montevallo to play with only 10.  Flagler struck for the third time just 13 seconds later as Pol Berenguer headed a free kick from Kevin Keenan just under the crossbar.  Falcon players played the ball out, but officials ruled that it had crossed the line for a 3-1 lead.

Montevallo pulled out all the stops in the last 20 minutes, but were unable to come away with the win.  UM took nine corners to Flagler’s seven but were outshot by the Saints 15-13.  UM collected seven yellow cards in the physical game with three more handed to Flagler.

Both teams now await the NCAA Tournament selections which will happen on Monday night at 7:30 with a live webcast via ncaa.com.

All-Tournament Team

Chris Bishop, North Georgia

Brett Jankouskas, Lander

Troy Watson, USC Aiken

Adrian Williams, Francis Marion

Stuart Rodgers, UNC Pembroke

Shawn Hoek, UNC Pembroke

Chris Klute, Clayton State

Janny Rivera, Clayton State

Brendan Ledgeway, Montevallo

Guiliano Frano, Montevallo

Tyson Eyo, Montevallo

Johan Bergfeld, Flagler

Joseph Toby, Flagler

Will Frandsen, Flagler

Tournament MVP

Pol Berenguer, Flagler