PBC Women's Soccer Tournament - First Round Recaps

No. 19 Pirates Survive, Advance In PBC Tournament With 1-0 Win
Boxscore

SAVANNAH, Ga. - Junior Kristina Pascutti took advantage of a misplay by the Georgia College defense, scoring the match's only goal as the top-seeded and No. 19-ranked Armstrong Atlantic State University soccer squad knocked off the eighth-seeded Bobcats, 1-0, to advance to the 2011 Peach Belt Conference tournament semifinals.

The Pirates (13-2-3) have now advanced to the PBC Semifinals in all seven seasons that Armstrong has sponsored the sport, the longest such streak in league history. Georgia College's season ends at 5-14, suffering its 11th loss this season by just one goal.

The match was eerily similar to the regular season meeting between the two teams on Oct. 19, also a 1-0 win by the Pirates. Armstrong outshot the Bobcats, 15-2, in the first half, and had a golden chance late in the first half as freshman Brianne Matarazzo's shot from the right was cleared off the line by a GC defender, although the ball appeared to cross the goal line. Play continued and the Bobcats were able to head into halftime with the match still tied 0-0.

In the second half, each team had clear scoring chances early in an attempt to break the draw. Andye Dawson's shot from the right side was pushed aside by the Bobcats' Taylor Cornelius in the 53rd minute, while Georgia College's Brittaney Borror's rocket shot in the 65th minute forced Armstrong keeper Meghan Mayville to make a one-handed push save over the bar.

Armstrong finally got on the board in the 74th minute when a misplay by the Georgia College back line resulted in a one-on-one chance for Pascutti against Cornelius. Pascutti dribbled the ball to the left, got Cornelius to commit, then poked the ball past for her 12th goal of the season.

Georgia College's Tatum O'Keefe had a pair of shots in the last six minutes for the Bobcats, trying to equalize, forcing one save by Mayville in the 85th minute and missing wide right off of a free kick in the 88th minute.

"Nothing's easy in the postseason, and we knew it was going to be a tough game," Armstrong head coach Eric Faulconer said. "It was a very tough game when we were over there [two weeks] ago. We just have to finish a little bit better. We created a lot of chances in the first half, but Kristina Pascutti did what she's been doing all year long, getting us big goals and hers today gave us the opportunity to get into the next round."

The Pirates finished the match by outshooting the Bobcats, 25-7, while Cornelius made a tremendous 14 saves in net for Georgia College and Mayville made four saves in net for the Pirates. Armstrong held an 8-2 edge in corner kicks while the Pirates were whistled for seven fouls, compared to four for the Bobcats. Each team was whistled offsides twice.

Columbus State Defeats UNC Pembroke 1-0, Advances in PBC Tournament
Boxscore

Columbus – The third-seeded Columbus State women's soccer team took down UNC Pembroke by a score of 1-0 Tuesday afternoon in a Peach Belt Conference Tournament Quarterfinals matchup at the Walden Soccer Complex.  CSU improves to 14-3-2 on the year and advances to take on North Georgia, the No. 2 seed, after their 4-0 win versus Clayton State.  UNC Pembroke ends its season at 9-6-3.

"I am very proud of the way our team played today to advance in the PBC Tournament," said head coach Jay Entlich.  "At this point in the season, every game can end your season which our young team is realizing.  "We just need to bring our energy and play a full 90 minutes every game and let the rest play out."

Both teams eased into the flow of the game through the early minutes of the match before CSU was finally able to break through in the 18th minute of action.  Jaci Carthers played a ball to Stephanie Lowery, who got the ball on her right foot and fired a perfect shot from 25 yards out that was just out of the reach of the leaping Brittney Bennett.

That would prove to be all that Columbus State needed as they limited the Lady Braves to just four shots only one of which was on target.

The Lady Cougars came out firing in the second half taking five shots in the first six minutes.  Kiana Nicholson had the best look hitting a left-footed ball just wide of the far right post.  Josefin de Broen, Kelsey Pelletier and Lowery also put dangerous balls into the box but a teammate was unable to get on the other end of it.

Mary Mancin picked up the win between the pipes upping her mark to 14-3-2 making the one save she needed to.  Britney Bennett suffered the loss falling to 8-5-3 despite making 10 saves in the match.

Columbus State outshot UNCP 21-4 and held a 9-1 edge in corner kicks in the contest.  CSU improves to 9-2-1 all-time and 4-0 in PBC Tournament matchups versus the Lady Braves.

Lander Women's Soccer Downs Flagler, Advances in PBC tournament
Boxscore

GREENWOOD – Jamie Shaw headed in a corner kick in the 75th minute Tuesday afternoon to lead fourth-seeded Lander to a 1-0 victory over fifth-seeded Flagler in the quarterfinal round of the Peach Belt Conference Tournament at the Jeff May Complex.

Lander now advances to Friday’s semifinals where the Lady Bearcats will be face either No. 1 Armstrong Atlantic or No. 8 Georgia College at 5 p.m.,
Friday Nov. 4 at Blanchard Woods Park in Evans, Ga. The championship game is scheduled for 1 p.m., Sunday, Nov. 6 at Blanchard Woods Park.

With the win, Lander improves to 13-4-1 and ties the school record for wins in a season. The shutout is Lander’s 11th of the season, which is a new school record.

Shaw scored the winning goal off a corner kick by Sarah Piechocki at 75:44.

Lander outshot Flagler, 13-3, and led in corner kicks, 8-3.

Flagler goalkeeper Cristina Coca had five saves and Lander’s Chelsea Beetch recorded one.

Lady Saints Blast Clayton State 4-0 in PBC Tournament Opener

Boxscore
DAHLONEGA, GA – The 2nd-seeded and 13th-ranked North Georgia women’s soccer team picked up just their second postseason win in school history on Tuesday evening, using a trio of first-half goals on their way to a 4-0 victory over Clayton State in the opening round of the PBC Tournament.
 
It was a milestone win for the Lady Saints (15-1-1), who set a school record for wins in a season and advance to the PBC Tournament Final Four for the second consecutive season.
 
North Georgia will now have a showdown with 3rd-seeded Columbus State in the semifinals after the Cougars defeated UNC Pembroke 1-0 in the opening Tuesday afternoon. Columbus State handed the Lady Saints their only loss of the 2011 season and snatched the 2010 PBC Tournament Championship from North Georgia with a 4-2 victory in the title game.
 
The senior duo of Natalie Douglass and Emily Dover paced the North Georgia scoring attack, as two goals from both players propelled the Lady Saints to a 4-0 victory.
 
Natalie Douglass’ strike in the 26th minute was the game-winner, but the Lawrenceville, Georgia, native was not done there, as she added another score in the 42nd minute off a corner for her fourth goal of the season.
 
Dover continued to add to her stellar season, scoring a goal in each half to run her total to 16 for the year, a mark that continues to lead the Peach Belt Conference as the Canton, Georgia, native extends her school record with every goal she records.
 
Kirsten Ross was perfect in goal once again for North Georgia, playing 73 minutes and not allowing a goal while tallying four saves in the win. Alex Dunlap came on in relief and was not tested over the final 17 minutes.
 
Laoise O’Driscoll suffered the loss for the Lakers in goal, giving up all four North Georgia goals and adding three saves in 65 minutes of action.
 
The Lady Saints held a 15-5 advantage in shots, and tallied four corner kicks to just a pair for Clayton State. The Lakers end the 2011 season at 9-7-2, with two of those losses coming to North Georgia.