Box Score COLUMBUS - Twelfth ranked Columbus State women's soccer jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the first 17:39 of play and cruised to a 4-0 season opening win over Newberry College.
"It was a good overall showing by the team being the first game of the year," said head coach Jay Entlich. "We were able to get a lot of girls playing time, which is key since we have such a young team this season. There are things we can improve on, but we'll enjoy this one for a short while and get ready for another tough test on Sunday against West Georgia."
The Lady Cougars were in control from the opening whistle and it didn't take long for them to jump on the board. Senior Jordan McKenzie sent a corner kick in that found freshman Kansas Bayly who put away her first career goal 13:04 into the match.
"It was awesome to get a goal in my first college match, especially being a defender, but it was a complete team effort," stated Bayly. "We had a nice buildup that led to us getting the corner kick, and then Jordan had a good service off of it. I was the lucky one to get the goal."
Preseason All-Conference selection Stephanie Parrish lived up to the billing, consistently putting the backline of Newberry under pressure with her speed. In the 18th minute, the senior beat a defender in the box and laid off a pass to junior Steph Lowery who slid in and poked it in for a 2-0 CSU lead. After a turnover by Newberry on the restart, Parrish again took on a defender, playing a ball across, this time with fellow senior KC MacEachern 26 seconds later.
The Lady Cougars kept up the attack in the second half, forcing Newberry into an own goal in the 51st minute, which came off another CSU corner kick. Columbus State wound up outshooting Newberry, who was a NCAA Tournament participant in 2009, 4-0 in the second half and 14-1 in the contest. CSU also held a drastic advantage in corner kicks, 13-2 in the contest.
Sophomore Mary Mancin picked up the win in her first collegiate start, playing the first 45 minutes. She paired up with freshman Willi Babillis to notch the shutout. Neither goalie had to make a save in the match.
Columbus State is back in action Sunday, September 5 when it takes on West Georgia in the final match of the Cougar Invitational. Kickoff is set for 4:00 p.m. at the Walden Soccer Complex.
