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By: Stephen Williams

MIAMI SHORES, Fla. – For the third consecutive season, the fifth-ranked and top-seeded Columbus State University women's soccer team took home the Southeast Region title after a 2-0 win over No. 20 and second-seeded North Georgia. Friday's NCAA Tournament match was played at Buccaneer Field at Barry University.
 
The region championship is the fifth overall for the Columbus State and sends the team into the national quarterfinals on Sunday. CSU will match up with West Florida, who won the South Region title earlier Friday evening.
 
"North Georgia was the better team for the first half, but we made some halftime adjustments and played much better in the second," head coach Jay Entlich said. "We didn't have our best tonight, but our girls found a way to move on against a really good team."
 
The match started slow as the two sides spent time feeling each other out. North Georgia (15-4-2) took the opening shot of the match in the 10^th minute.
 
Columbus State (20-2-0) finally got its first look at the net across the 16-minute mark, but Mandy Janowitz's shot sailed high.
 
UNG had a great chance to take the early lead in the 24^th minute as the Nighthawks got the ball to the goalline. Freshman Amanda Murphy was in the right spot though, clearing the ball out just before it crossed the line to keep the match scoreless.
 
The match went to the half scoreless with the Nighthawks ahead 5-3 in shots.
 
The Lady Cougars made adjustments at the break and it paid immediate dividends. Olivia Jarrell fired a shot that required a save less than three minutes into the second half and then finally broke through in the 53^rd minute.
 
Janowitz played a pass to Jarrell who slipped past a defender and hammered home a goal into the right side of the net. The goal was the 19^th of the year for the sophomore, which is tied for the CSU single-season record.
 
North Georgia had its best look of the night in the 67^th minute, getting behind the CSU defense. However, the shot slid just wide of the mark.
 
Trying to close out another victory, the Lady Cougars tacked on an insurance goal with less than five minutes to play. Cassandra Wade dribbled across the top of the box and rocketed a ball past the keeper to seal the win.
 
Maylyn Parsons tallied another shutout behind six saves on the night. The shutout gives her 28 for her career, which breaks the Peach Belt Conference all-time record.