Montevallo Shocks Top-Seeded Columbus State in Peach Belt Conference First Round

Columbus, GA - The Peach Belt Conference Women's Soccer Tournament will have a new champion for the first time in four years in 2009.

Eighth-seeded Montevallo got an early goal in the first half and then played staunch defense the rest of the way in taking a shocking 1-0 win over top-seeded and PBC regular-season champion Columbus State. The Falcons (7-8-3) advance to the PBC Championships in Evans, GA, this weekend, while Columbus State (15-2-3) will be idle for this portion of the tournament for the first time in five years.

It appeared as if CSU would take an early lead, but Falcon keeper Alyssa Maxwell made a nice save on a point-blank shot from Rachel Walthall at the 7:10 mark. That play ignited her mates, and just 28 seconds later the visitors struck for what would become the game-winner.

Jenna Kuzemski took a near-perfect centering feed from Natalie Martineau and hammered a shot which caromed off the underside of the crossbar and past Kelly Nimmo for the score. The goal came at the 7:38 mark and was, ironically, Kuzemski's first goal of the season.

CSU continued to pressure the Falcon defense, but Maxwell made two more saves as the Cougars got off six first-half shots. The defenders did the rest in the half, keeping the pressure off the freshman goalkeeper.

CSU turned up the pressure in the second half, but Montevallo employed a similar strategy to North Georgia, the only other season loss for the Cougars, by playing all 11 players on the defensive side of midfield when CSU had possession. The strategy paid off, but not before CSU gave the Falcons a scare and the home fans something to cheer about.

In the 56th minute, Stephanie Parrish broke free right in front of the net after a flurry on a corner kick opportunity and punched a shot past Maxwell. The ball, however, struck Parrish in the hand just before the scoring kick, resulting in a hand-ball violation and nullifying the score. CSU would get off five more shots in the contest for a total of eight in the second half, but Maxwell made four more saves to keep the Cougars scoreless.

The Cougars out-shot Montevallo 14-5 in the game and had seven corner kicks to none for the Falcons. Maxwell ended up with seven saves, while Nimmo collected two saves as UM had one shot on goal in each period. The Falcons committed nine fouls to eight for CSU. There were no cautions or ejections issued.

CSU will now await Monday's NCAA Division II Selection Show at 7 PM to see where it will go for the Southeast Regional on November 13-15. The Cougars should have a berth sewn up in the eight-team field but will find out their seeding and location in that show on Monday.