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Evans - For the second straight year, No. 20 Columbus State came up short in the Peach Belt Conference Tournament championship falling 2-0 to top-ranked Armstrong at Blanchard Woods Park in Evans, GA Sunday afternoon.
This is the third runner-up finish for Columbus State in the PBC Tournament to go along with four championships in eight tournament appearances.
With the loss, the Lady Cougars fall to 17-3-1 on the season, while Armstrong moves to 18-1-1 with its 18th consecutive win. Of CSU's three losses this season, two have now come at the hands of the Pirates.
Columbus State fell behind early as Nadima Skeff put Armstrong on the board in the 20th minute. Skeff's shot from the left side of the box chipped over Mary Mancin's head and into the top right corner of the net. It was the ninth goal of the season for Skeff.
The Lady Cougars came very close to leveling the game one minute later as Kelsey Pelletier served a ball into the box that was headed on goal by Shea Wilby. The shot was scooped up by Armstrong's Morgan Luckie to preserve the one goal lead.
Armstrong went to halftime with a 1-0 lead and held a 6-3 shot advantage.
CSU had a couple of early looks at the goal to start the second half. Pelletier fired a shot that missed just wide to the left and Stephanie Lowery had her shot from inside the box blocked by an Armstrong defender.
Ashley Miller had a clean look in the 61st minute from the left side of the box, but the junior's shot was stopped by Luckie.
The game reached a furious pace in the second half with both sides trading shots until the 81st minute when the Pirates sealed up the victory.
Danielle Fey sent a corner kick into the middle of the box that found Taylor Russell near the back post. Russell was able to volley it into the net to give Armstrong a 2-0 lead.
The Pirates outshot CSU 9-8 in the second half and 15-11 for the game.
Mancin took just her third loss of the season in goal allowing two goals on 15 shots. The senior made nine saves over the 90 minutes.
The win went to Luckie who improves to a perfect 12-0-0 for the year. The Armstrong goalkeeper made five saves.
The Pirates have now defeated Columbus State in five consecutive meetings and have not given up a goal to the Lady Cougars in over 478 minutes.
Miller, Blakely Heideman and Catherine Lovin were named to the PBC All-Tournament team following the game. It is the first All-Tournament selection for all three.
Next up for the CSU is the NCAA Tournament. The regional pairings will be announced on the NCAA selection show Monday night at 7:30 p.m. The first and second rounds will be played next Friday and Sunday.
