Like Columbus State Athletics on Facebook!
Tweet #GoCSU

By: Josh Fuller

COLUMBUS – The third-ranked Columbus State University women's soccer team scored two goals in the final 16 minutes to rally and defeat 16^th-ranked North Georgia 2-1 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The match took place at the Walden Soccer Complex in Columbus.

With the victory, the Lady Cougars advance to the Southeast Regional final and will take on 13^th-ranked Carson-Newman. The match will take place on Friday, Nov. 20 in Jefferson City, Tenn.

"This was a great college soccer match," said head coach Jay Entlich. "Both teams played very well and for our girls to bounce back after allowing a late goal was a testaments to their heart.

"North Georgia is one of the best teams in the nation and it just speaks to the strength of the Peach Belt Conference," added Entlich.

Over the first 45 minutes, the two teams combined for just five shots with UNG holding a 4-1 edge. The Nighthawks came out firing as Taylor Wagnon fired a shot off a Jade Pennock corner in the fourth minute. However, the shot was knocked down by the CSU backline.

Following the fast start by North Georgia (16-4-1), the Lady Cougars turned the tide controlling the pace of play for the next few minutes. Chelsea Person took three corner kicks in the span of three minutes, but CSU wasn't able to put a shot on goal.

In the 14^th minute, Jordan Draughon got a head on a corner kick, but the shot went wide keeping the match scoreless.

CSU recorded its first shot of the match in the 19^th minute as Olivia Jarrell tried to one-time a shot.

The lone shot on goal in the half came in the 30^th minute with Rachel VanHorn blasting a shot that Columbus State goalkeeper Maylyn Parsons had to corral.

The second half began with a breakaway for North Georgia that nearly put the Nighthawks on top. With just barely 10 seconds off the clock, Pennock broke through the Columbus State defense and sprinted toward the net. However, a Lady Cougar defender was able to get in the way to block her shot attempt.

Columbus State (19-2-1) had its best scoring opportunity in the 65^th minute as Taylor Marks nearly gave CSU the lead with a nice shot from a cross.

North Georgia finally broke through in the 69^th minute thanks to a great leading pass from Madison Salters. Salters was able to sneak a pass through the CSU backline to a streaking VanHorn. Using her speed, VanHorn continued to race towards the goal and sent a shot past the charging Parsons in net. It was VanHorn's seventh goal of the year.

Down to North Georgia for the first time in five matches, Columbus State never panicked. Following the goal, CSU was able to get three corner kicks in a little more than two minutes. During the span, Cassandra Wade and Olivia Jarrell fired off shots.

In the 75^th minute, the equalizer finally came off of great teamwork. Person fired a great cross towards the box that Wade got a foot on before flicking it past Mallory Sayre for the goal.
From there, it was a track meet with both teams looking for the go-ahead goal to avoid extra time.

North Georgia came close three times with VanHorn getting denied by Parsons in the 79^th minute and then sending a shot wide in the 84^th. Just one minute later, Micaela Sundstrom just barely going high over the crossbar.

However, it was the Lady Cougars who were able to find the back of the net. In the 88^th minute, Person lined up for another corner kick and skied the ball into the box. Shelby Rolling got the first head on it, sending it further towards the goal, before Jarrell got her head on it and sent it into the top of the net for the goal.

Scrambling to find a late goal, the Nighthawks were able to get just one shot off before the time expired.

Columbus State now moves to 14-2-1 all-time against North Georgia, including five wins in a row. The Lady Cougars also move to the third round of the NCAA Tournament for the fifth time in program history.