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By: Josh Fuller

COLUMBUS – Two second half goals including one by senior Shelby Rolling lifted the 19^th-ranked Columbus State University women's soccer team to a 3-1 victory over Shorter Wednesday evening. The non-conference match took place at the Walden Soccer Complex.

"I'm happy that we were able to come out and get a win against a tough opponent in Shorter," said head coach Jay Entlich. "We missed out on plenty of opportunities to score and that is something we are going to work on to get ready for the upcoming matches.

"There are some things that we are going to have to fix before conference play begins."

Despite being outshot 17-2 the first half, the Lady Hawks were able to take a 1-1 score into the break.

Just 80 seconds in the match, Columbus State (3-2-0) took the lead thanks to Chelsea Person's first goal of the season. A long ball put pressure on Shorter's defense and then a failed clearance set up Person perfectly. She went around one defender before taking a shot that bounced off of Alden Powell's body before tricking into the back of the net.

CSU continued putting pressure on the Lady Hawks firing two more dangerous shots before the five minute mark in the match.

Shorter was inches away from tying the match in the sixth minute as a free kick from Jen Rogers hit the crossbar and went out of play.

However in the 14^th minute, Rogers was put in a better position to score as Maylyn Parsons fouled the forward inside the box setting up a penalty kick. Rogers calmly put the shot away for her third goal of the season to tie the match at one.

From that point on, the Lady Cougars were on the attack. Over the next 20 minutes, CSU had six shots that were either blocked in the box or saved by Powell to keep the game tied.

Following halftime, both coaches made goalkeeper changes. Entlich sent on senior Meosha Hatcher while Shorter (3-2-0) went with Haley Lademann in goal.

The Lady Cougars instantly put pressure on Lademann, sending two shots her way over the first two minutes of the second half.

In the 48^th minute, a nice ball played from midfield got inside the Shorter box. Mandy Janowitz was able to get a foot on the ball for CSU, but a failed clearance saw the ball go into the Lady Hawks' net for an own goal.

Columbus State kept shooting away at the net. Person and Janowitz both had shots saved by Lademann while Taylor Marks had a dangerous shot blocked right in front of the box in the 64^th minute to keep the score at 2-1.

After freshman Olivia Jarrell hit the post in the 74^th minute, Rolling put the game on ice just two minutes later.

A Shorter foul set up a free kick for the Lady Cougars about 35-yards out where Cassandra Wade played a perfect ball in the box that Rolling was able to get a foot on to extend the lead to 3-1.

Shorter had one last attempt on goal in the 85^th minute as a Rogers indirect free kick just flew over the crossbar.

At the final whistle, CSU outshot Shorter 32-4, the most shots attempted by the Lady Cougars since Oct. 8, 2014 when they took 38 against Georgia Southwestern.

Hatcher and Parsons each played a half in net for Columbus State with Hatcher earning her first victory on the season. Neither goalkeeper made a save in the match.

Lademann took the loss for Shorter making six saves while allowing two goals in her 45 minutes of action.

Columbus State will now open up the Peach Belt Conference portion of its schedule on Friday hosting rival Armstrong State. Kickoff is at 6 p.m. at the Walden Soccer Complex.