Box Score COLUMBUS - No. 3 Columbus State put on a dominating performance Wednesday night as the Lady Cougars posted a 3-0 victory over visiting Georgia Southwestern at the Walden Soccer Complex. CSU improved to 9-0-1 on the year and 4-0 in the Peach Belt while the Hurricanes fall to 2-8 and 0-4 in conference. The contest was dubbed the "Kicks for the Cure" game as special commemorative jerseys were worn by both teams and money was raised throughout the night.
The Lady Cougars came out running from the get go. CSU's all-time leading scorer Stephanie Parrish received a pass from Kim Gaughan and took a shot that was heading in the left side of the net, but a GSW defender stepped in the way to deny the goal. Parrish kept on attacking and later in the half got taken out in the box setting up a penalty kick. Stephanie Lowery calmly put it away to notch her team leading ninth goal of the season.
Columbus State went into the half with a 1-0 lead, posting a 13-0 edge in shots and 15-0 lead in corner kicks.
The offensive barrage was started again at the on-set of the second half as Kansas Bayly nearly put in her second goal of the season, but a diving save from Courtney Allison denied her. Gaughan had the next excellent chance for CSU as her shot dinged off the post. She had a shot minutes later blocked in the 60th minute.
CSU finally cracked through the packed in defense as Bayly finally did get her second goal of the season. Much like the first one, it was off a header that found the back of the net. Kelsey Bass picked up her first point of the year with the assist.
Kate Walton closed out the scoring in the contest off a Lowery corner kick. Walton knocked in her second goal of the season while Lowery notched her third assist this year.
The scoresheet was a one-sided affair as Columbus State took 26 shots while GSW didn't record a shot in the contest. The hosts also had a commanding 29-0 lead in corner kicks. The Hurricanes' Courtney Allison denied five Lady Cougar shots on the night. Columbus State posted its ninth shutout of the year and leads the NCAA with a 0.10 goals against average.
Columbus State returns to the pitch in a pivotal conference matchup when it travels to Savannah, GA to take on No. 8 Armstrong Atlantic State. AASU will enter the game with a 7-1-2 record and 5-1 mark in-conference. The Pirates are coming of a 2-1 loss to conference foe Georgia College & State. Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m.
