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Morrow - In a battle of the final two unbeaten teams in the Peach Belt Conference, Clayton State scored two goals on set pieces in the first half and added a late third goal to upset seventh-ranked Columbus State University 3-0 Sunday afternoon. The match took place at Laker Field in Morrow.
With the victory, Clayton State moves into sole possession atop the PBC standings with a 9-3-3 overall record and a 6-0-2 mark in conference play. Columbus State (10-4-0) is now tied with Lander in second place with a 6-1-0 PBC record.
"We didn't play crisp today at all," said head coach Jay Entlich. "We didn't finish off scoring opportunities, couldn't connect on passes and set plays continued to do us in."
"We have two days before we play a very tough North Georgia team and I believe the girls will respond well to this."
Both teams were tentative at the start of the match as they combined for just three shots in the first 22 minutes of action. Two of the three shots came from the foot of Kelsey Pelletier as she was just wide of the goal on both attempts.
In the 23rd minute, Clayton State earned a free kick from about 30 yards out. Saidhbh Collins put a good ball into the box where Alicia Robinson headed it past Meosha Hatcher for the goal.
A little over 10 minutes later, the Lakers added on with an Emily Walling goal. The Lakers earned a corner kick after Jahmela Williams' shot was blocked. The ball was played into box where Robinson fired a shot that was saved by Hatcher but the rebound found Walling's head for the second goal of the day.
One of Columbus State's best scoring opportunities came in the 43rd minute as a ball was crossed to Mandy Janowitz from the right side of the field. A jumping Janowitz fired a shot at the net but Charlotte McCormack was there for the save.
Needing two goals to tie the match, the Lady Cougars played aggressive in the second half taking 10 shots. Chelsea Person had two early shots blocked while Jackie Hellett pushed an attempt just wide in the 70th minute.
Pelletier was inches from putting the Lady Cougars on the board in the 75th minute but, she too, missed wide left.
On a corner kick in the 77th minute, Courtney Jacquay headed a ball just shy of the crossbar allowing Clayton State to hold to its 2-0 lead.
After a save on a Hellett shot, Clayton State won the goal kick and Robinson snuck a pass between defenders to Melissa Hetherington. On a one vs. one with Hatcher, Hetherington fired an unstoppable shot to the upper-right 90 to put the game away for the Lakers.
Clayton State ended an eight-match losing streak to Columbus State with the victory and extended its own unbeaten streak to 10.
Charlotte McCormack (8-3-3) made four saves on the way to picking up her PBC leading sixth shutout. In eight PBC matches for the Lakers, McCormack has kept a clean sheet in six.
Meosha Hatcher was hit with the loss falling to 9-2-0 allowing all three goals.
Columbus State will return to action on Wednesday, October 23 taking on North Georgia at 6:00 p.m. at the Walden Soccer Complex.
