ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. - Down 3-1 at halftime, the No. 2 Columbus State University women's soccer team stormed back with three second-half goals to defeat No. 17 Flagler College 4-3 in Peach Belt Conference action on Sunday afternoon.
Anna Grady found the game-winner with the clock running out in the 88th minute to secure CSU's (11-0-1, 5-0-0 PBC) ninth straight victory.
"We knew this was going to be a battle, but what an amazing victory for our players," stated head coach
Jay Entlich. "Flagler has an outstanding team and coach, and this outcome could've gone either way.
I'm proud we fought through some adversity today, and we need to start prepping for another challenging opponent on Tuesday."
The comeback began in a hurry shortly after the second half began. In the 51st minute, the Cougars scored two goals, with the first coming from
Parker Morgan off a free kick from
Maria Kilset.
Emma Beddow quickly tied it up less than 30 seconds later to stun the Saints.
Columbus State's backline did have to defend eight shot attempts in the second half, with
Lizzie Hedrick (5-0-0) making two saves to secure the come-from-behind victory.
The Cougars took a 1-0 lead early when
Anna Grady put one in the bottom left of the net in the 13th minute. The lead didn't last long as Flagler (6-2-1, 3-2-0) scored in the 17th and 18th minutes to move in front. Andrea Fernandez tied the match, while Josefine Nilsen scored her seventh goal of the year to put the Saints ahead.
FC added to its lead when Emery Biggs knocked one in with 47 seconds before the half.
Flagler outshot CSU 21-14, but the Cougars held a 9-8 shot on goal advantage.
Lauren Barnes, Beddow and
Maddie DeFranco all picked up assists for CSU.
UP NEXT
The Cougars remain in Florida for another top-25 showdown against No. 20 Florida Tech on Tuesday, Oct. 12 at 1 p.m. No visiting fans are allowed in attendance.
COUGAR NOTES
• It's the first multi-goal match of Grady's career. She becomes the third Cougar to score twice in the same match this year (Beddow & Barnes)
• It was the first time this season that the Cougars have been outshot
• The Cougars have scored three or more goals in eight straight matches
• The four yellow cards are CSU were the most ever in a single match in program history
• CSU has won 10 straight on the road in PBC play. Overall, the Cougars improve to 14-0-2 on the road since 2019
• It's the first win for the Cougars over Flagler since Nov. 11, 2018. However, CSU still holds a sizeable 14-2-2 lead in the series
