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By:
Stephen Williams
PEMBROKE, N.C. – UNC Pembroke scored a seventh-minute goal and made it stand up as the ninth-ranked Columbus State University women's soccer team dropped a 1-0 contest on Saturday. The match was played at Varsity Grounds.
The loss breaks Columbus State's 33-match unbeaten streak against Peach Belt Conference competition.
"Give UNC Pembroke all the credit today," head coach
Jay Entlich said. "They made the most of their early chance and we were not good on the attacking end.
"We have to learn from today and get back to work in training to make sure that this doesn't happen again."
Columbus State (5-2-0, 2-1-0 PBC) fired the first two shots of the match before the Braves would get the only goal they would need.
In the seventh minute,
Maylyn Parsons knocked down UNCP's first shot of the day, but Stacey Scott collected the rebound and found the net to give the Braves the lead.
The CSU offense then began to pound away at the net.
Mandy Janowitz deflected a shot off the post in the 15
th minute before a shot missed high and another was blocked.
The shots kept coming, but UNC Pembroke (4-2-0, 2-0-0) keeper Gina Ryan made a trio of first-half saves to send the game to the break at 1-0.
It was much of the same after halftime, as Janowitz headed a corner kick high less than two minutes into the second.
Hugrun Elvarsdottir took back-to-back attempts at the net five minutes later, but Ryan made a save on one and the other missed wide.
Columbus State had a ball on its way into the net in the 57
th minute from
Taylor Marks, but a UNCP defender was in the right place at the right time to clear it off the goalline and keep the Lady Cougars off the scoreboard.
UNC Pembroke went more than 70 minutes between shots after scoring the only goal of the match, as the Braves didn't take another until the 79
th minute. The Braves got off four shots in the final 12 minutes as Columbus State pushed its numbers even more forward.
Atalia Ramirez had the final effort for the Lady Cougars with less than a minute to play, but her attempt was saved and UNC Pembroke closed it out.
CSU outshot the Braves 22-6 for the match, but Ryan made eight saves for her fourth consecutive shutout of the season.
Columbus State will wrap up the month of September on Wednesday with a road trip to West Florida. Kickoff is scheduled for 5 p.m. in Pensacola, Fla.
