Montevallo Shocks Columbus State in First Round of PBC Tournament

Columbus, GA - The Peach Belt Conference Women's Soccer Tournament will have a new champion for the first time in four years in 2009.

Eighth-seeded Montevallo got an early goal in the first half and then played staunch defense the rest of the way in taking a shocking 1-0 win over top-seeded and PBC regular-season champion Columbus State. The Falcons (7-8-3) advance to the PBC Championships in Evans, GA, this weekend, while Columbus State (15-2-3) will be idle for this portion of the tournament for the first time in five years.

It appeared as if CSU would take an early lead, but Falcon keeper Alyssa Maxwell made a nice save on a point-blank shot from Rachel Walthall at the 7:10 mark. That play ignited her mates, and just 28 seconds later the visitors struck for what would become the game-winner.

Jenna Kuzemski took a near-perfect centering feed from Natalie Martineau and hammered a shot which caromed off the underside of the crossbar and past Kelly Nimmo for the score. The goal came at the 7:38 mark and was, ironically, Kuzemski's first goal of the season.

CSU continued to pressure the Falcon defense, but Maxwell made two more saves as the Cougars got off six first-half shots. The defenders did the rest in the half, keeping the pressure off the freshman goalkeeper.

CSU turned up the pressure in the second half, but Montevallo employed a similar strategy to North Georgia, the only other season loss for the Cougars, by playing all 11 players on the defensive side of midfield when CSU had possession. The strategy paid off, but not before CSU gave the Falcons a scare and the home fans something to cheer about.

In the 56th minute, Stephanie Parrish broke free right in front of the net after a flurry on a corner kick opportunity and punched a shot past Maxwell. The ball, however, struck Parrish in the hand just before the scoring kick, resulting in a hand-ball violation and nullifying the score. CSU would get off five more shots in the contest for a total of eight in the second half, but Maxwell made four more saves to keep the Cougars scoreless.

The Cougars out-shot Montevallo 14-5 in the game and had seven corner kicks to none for the Falcons. Maxwell ended up with seven saves, while Nimmo collected two saves as UM had one shot on goal in each period. The Falcons committed nine fouls to eight for CSU. There were no cautions or ejections issued.

CSU will now await Monday's NCAA Division II Selection Show at 7 PM to see where it will go for the Southeast Regional on November 13-15. The Cougars should have a berth sewn up in the eight-team field but will find out their seeding and location in that show on Monday.

Burton Strikes Twice As No. 21 AASU Advances In PBC Tournament

SAVANNAH, Ga. - Senior forward Kristin Burton tallied a pair of goals and freshman Morgan Mitchell added one as the No. 21-ranked Armstrong Atlantic State women's soccer squad advanced past the first round of the 2009 Peach Belt Conference Women's Soccer Championships with a 3-0 victory over visiting UNC Pembroke on Tuesday afternoon at AT&T Field.

The second-seeded Pirates (13-3-3) advance to the PBC semifinals for the fifth consecutive season, where they will face the winner of 3rd-seeded Lander and 6th-seeded Flagler on Friday at 5:00 p.m. in Evans, Ga., at the PBC's Final Four. UNC Pembroke sees its season come to a close with a 10-8-1 overall record.

A short-handed UNC Pembroke squad hung in against the Pirates for the first third of the match, but a key sub by the Pirates sparked AASU to a 1-0 lead. Less than a minute after freshman forward Katie Jesser entered the match, she took a pass from Kyndal Schaaf and crossed it to Burton, whose shot beat UNCP keeper Rea Segoviano in the 38th minute for the first goal of the match.

The one goal lead would stand into halftime, with the Pirates owning a 12-2 advantage in shots at intermission.

In the second half, Burton would tally her second goal of the match in the 61st minute. A one-touch shot by Burton, off of a cross by Kristina Pascutti, was initially saved by a diving Segoviano, but the ball rolled out of her arms and into the goal, giving the Pirates a 2-0 lead.

For Burton, it was her 90th career goal - she is now one of only 11 players in NCAA Division II history to record 90 career goals. It was also her 24th career multi-goal match and sixth this season.

More bad luck on the part of UNC Pembroke resulted in the third and final goal for AASU. Freshman Morgan Mitchell popped a sky high ball into the box from the right side, where Segiovano misjudged it - the ball falling through her hands and into the net in the 73rd minute.

Segiovano finished the match with nine saves in net for the Braves, while AASU keeper Tracey Mitchell recorded the shutout, making a pair of saves on the day. It was the Pirates' eighth shutout of the season.

AASU outshot the Braves, 23-6, and owned a slim edge in corner kicks, 4-3.

Burton tallied 11 shots, five on goal, in her likely final home match as a Pirate. Rebecca Womack led the Braves with three shots, including two on goal.

Shaw, Lander Top Flagler 1-0

GREENWOOD - Jamie Shaw scored an early goal and Lander made it stand up, beating Flagler 1-0 in the first round of the Peach Belt Conference Women's Soccer Tournament Tuesday afternoon. The Lady Bearcats will face Armstrong Atlantic State University in the PBC semifinals on Friday afternoon in Evans, Ga.

Lander recorded its school-record ninth shutout of the season, improving its record to 11-3-2. Flagler ended its season at 8-8-1.

The Lady Bearcats will face Armstrong at 5 p.m. on Field 2 at Blanchard Woods Park in Evans near Augusta. Armstrong (14-3-3) shut out UNC Pembroke, 3-0, in a semifinal match earlier Tuesday. Lander lost 3-0 to Armstrong in a regular season match in Savannah, Ga., Sept. 12.

Shaw scored at the 14:18 mark of the first half off an assist from Lara Middlebrook. Shaw's eighth goal of the season came from about 10 yards out on the left side as she chipped the ball over Flagler goalkeeper Christie Reuther. It was Middlebrook's first assist of the season.

Lander out-shot Flagler 11-7 and had a 7-4 edge in corner kicks. Lady Bearcats goalkeeper Chelsea Beetch had three saves while Flagler's Reuther had five stops.

EVANS BOUND! Bobcats Edge North Georgia 2-1 in PBC Tournament Quarterfinal

MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga. – Using goals from senior Jamie Nevin (Grovetown, Ga.) and sophomore Megan McAlpin (Newnan, Ga.) the Georgia College & State University soccer team (10-5-5) beat North Georgia (10-5-2) 2-1 tonight at Bobcat Field, advancing to the second round of the 2009 Peach Belt Conference (PBC) Tournament.

No. 4-seed Georgia College will next battle No. 8-seed University of Montevallo Friday, Nov. 6 in Evans, Ga. at Blanchard Woods Park. The Bobcats haven’t lost in nearly a month, last falling at No. 20 Armstrong Atlantic State University 1-0 Oct. 7.

The Bobcats made good on the eighth shot attempt of the game, as Nevin collected a deflected Ally Treat (Fayetteville, Ga.) ball and fired it into the left side of the net for a 1-0 lead, just over 29 minutes into the contest.

After halftime, the ‘Cats came out firing again, and less than 10 minutes into the second period McAlpin scored off a corner from senior Daria Owen (Snellville, Ga.) to amount a 2-0 lead. It was the first multiple goal lead for the Bobcats since a win at Flagler College Oct. 17, a five-game stretch.

Not going down without a fight, North Georgia cut the lead in half with 8:53 remaining, when the Saints scored on a corner of their own, as Casey Smith found the head of Lauren Schenk for the latter’s sixth goal of the season.

The Saints continued to dictate the pace for the waning moments, including a beautiful sliding and diving stab by Bobcat keeper Mary Rob Plunkett (Augusta, Ga.) to knock a Schenk shot wide with less than three minutes left. Plunkett saved another hot shot off the foot of Smith just 28 seconds later, the final shot attempt of the game.

Plunkett finished with four saves in five tries in the win. The Saint goalkeepers split halves, with Kirsten Ross taking the loss on a three-save effort.

Georgia College picks up its third-straight 10-win season, two of which have come under head coach Juan Pablo Favero. The Bobcats remain undefeated when they score at least one goal, an impressive 7-0-2 on the year.

Georgia College advances to face Montevallo, with the Falcons serving the biggest possible upset in the eight-team tournament, toppling top-seeded Columbus State University this evening 1-0.