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Columbus - For the first time since 2010, the Columbus State University women's soccer team has captured the Peach Belt Conference regular season championship. The Lady Cougars scored a pair of goals and held UNC Pembroke to three shots on their way to a 2-0 victory Saturday. The PBC match took place at the Walden Soccer Complex.
The Lady Cougars ended the regular season with a 13-5-0 record and a 9-2-0 mark inside the PBC for 27 points. Clayton State also had 27 points with 8-0-3 record. The Lakers will be the top-seed in the upcoming PBC Tournament due to their 3-0 victory over CSU earlier this season.
The conference crown is the seventh in the 10-year history of the CSU program after the Lady Cougars won six in a row from 2005-2010.
"I'm proud of this team for the way they battled throughout the year," stated head coach Jay Entlich. "UNC Pembroke played us well all the way to the final horn and didn't give us anything."
"This is a great accomplishment but we still haven't earned a spot in the NCAA Tournament and that is our ultimate goal. There is still so much to play for."
Columbus State didn't waste any time as Andi Larese fired the match's first shot in just the third minute. The Lady Cougars had four shots over the first 13 minutes of action including closes misses by Casey Davis and Shelby Rolling.
It looked like the Lady Cougars had the first goal of the match in the 15th minute as Kelsey Pelletier rifled a shot from the left side of the box but goalkeeper Claire Tracy made the kick save to keep the match scoreless.
However, just a few seconds later Rolling gave CSU the 1-0 lead after a Taylor Marks corner kick. The ball was played into the box by the freshman and Tracy was able to punch it away from the net. The ball ended up right at Rolling's feet and the sophomore fired a shot for her third goal of the year.
CSU had two more dangerous looks at the end of the half including a ball off the crossbar by Mandy Janowitz in the 41st minute while Pelletier laced a shot that Tracy had to move to her left for in the 42nd minute.
UNC Pembroke (7-9-2, 4-5-2 PBC) didn't record its first shot until the 52nd minute as Rae-Shawna Campbell had a weak header off a corner kick that Maylyn Parsons saved.
The Lady Cougars continued to rack up shots taking nine in the first 30 minutes of the second half.
Looking to add to its lead, Columbus State found the back of the net in the 85th minute due to great passing. After a Brittany McNair shot was blocked, the ball bounced just outside of the box. Marks centered the ball on a pass to Shea Wilby who flicked it to Chelsea Person. Person capped off the play by beating Tracy to the left side of the net.
Columbus State ended the match with a 24-3 shot advantage while taking 12 corner kicks in the contest.
Freshman Maylyn Parsons won her third straight match including her second shutout during the span to improve to 4-2-0. Claire Tracy fell to 2-3-2 after allowing two goals on six attempts.
Columbus State will enter the PBC Tournament as the second-seed and will play on Tuesday night at the Walden Soccer Complex. The time and opponent will be announced later Saturday evening.
