COLUMBUS - Two penalty kick goals by freshman Vanessa Aviles were enough for the Columbus State University women's soccer team to defeat Georgia College 2-1 Thursday night. The Peach Belt Conference match took place at the Walden Soccer Complex.

The Lady Cougars (3-0-1, 3-0-1 PBC) were in control throughout the match until a late scare by the Bobcats tightened things. GC scored in the 86th minute after a failed clearance by the CSU defense and had chances later for the equalizer. 

Following the Cassie Balzano goal, Georgia College fired three more times in an attempt to tie the match, but two were off target, while Bria Riancho stopped the final try in the 89th minute. 

"Georgia College is an outstanding defensive team, and it's always a challenge for us against them," commented head coach Jay Entlich. "It's a great rivalry match, and they have some outstanding players on that squad. It's always great to grab the win, and we will start prepping for our next match on Sunday."

Aviles' penalty attempt in the eighth minute was the first shot of the match for either side. After Kimmy May darted inside the box, Lydia Atkinson was whistled for the foul. Aviles was called upon and finished the chance to put the Lady Cougars up. 

Columbus State made the Georgia College (1-2-0, 1-2-0) defense work harder over the final 45 minutes. An Anna Grady shot had to be stopped by Kate Richardson in the 51st minute before Parker Morgan had a look at the net a few minutes later. 

May was challenging the GC defense in the 62nd minute and dribbled near the goal line before being taken down by Caroline Tully for the foul. CSU went to Aviles again for the penalty chance, with the freshman delivering for her second goal of the night.

Columbus State looked to add to its tally, but Richardson kept the Bobcats alive. She made a diving save on a Brooke Ouimette attempt in the 79th minute before doing it again to deny Maddy Peterson a goal in the 85th.

Richardson had six saves for Georgia College as Columbus State held a 14-8 shot advantage. CSU also had 10 corners, compared to just one by GC.

Riancho made two saves in her third win of the year.

UP NEXT
Columbus State added an additional Division I exhibition match to its schedule for Sunday. The Lady Cougars will now head to Birmingham, Ala. to face off against the University of Alabama-Birmingham at 2 p.m. eastern. The change comes after CSU's originally scheduled match on Monday, March 8, versus Clayton State was postponed. Fans can purchase tickets to Sunday's match here. 

Match Notes
• Aviles joins Peterson as the only players with multiple goals in a match this season. Peterson netted a pair in CSU's season-opener against Young Harris College.
• The freshman also becomes the seventh different Lady Cougar to score this season.
• Columbus State has converted on its last three PK attempts. 
• The last three goals scored by CSU against Georgia College have all been off of penalty kicks. 
• Columbus State has fired at least seven shots on goal in all four matches this season. The Lady Cougars had eight on goal on Thursday.
• The Lady Cougars are now unbeaten in their last 12 regular-season matches. CSU is 11-0-1 during the stretch and has outscored its opponents 41-5. 
• CSU head coach Jay Entlich is now three wins away from 300 in his collegiate career.