PBC Men's Soccer Daily Update - Oct. 22 - Flagler Wins PBC Championship!

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Flagler Captures PBC Regular Season Championship!

ST. AUGUSTINE, FL -- The Flagler Saints won their second PBC regular-season Championship in the last three years as they defeated Clayton State 2-1.  The Saints will be the #1 seed in the upcoming PBC Tournament and host a first-round tournament quarterfinal on Tuesday, Nov. 2 at Flagler Field.  

The win was the seventh in a row for the PBC Champs, who take the championship after beating Clayton State combined with North Georgia's win over Lander and Montevallo's home tie with UNC Pembroke.  Coming into Saturday's game, the Saints neede both Montevallo and Lander to either lose or tie in order to claim the title outright, which is exactly what happened.

Flagler improves to 12-3-1 overall and 6-1-1 in the Peach Belt.  

The Lakers cashed in on an early opportunity as senior midfielder Janny Rivera scored on a direct kick in the seventh minute to give Clayton State the early 1-0 lead.

But Flagler capitalized late in the first half. The Saints tied the game in the 40th minute on a goal by Joseph Toby off an assist by Johan Bergfeld. Flagler took the lead four minutes later as Pol Berenguer scored the go-ahead goal off an assist by Toby.

Clayton State had eight shots at the goal in the second half, including five in the final 10 minutes, but could not get the equalizer. The Saints out-shot the Lakers 18-13. Clayton State goalkeeper Brian Garcia recorded three saves, as did Flagler goalkeeper Camp Bissell.

Saints Score Early, Pound Lander for 3-0 Peach Belt Win

DAHLONEGA, GA – An offensive explosion and great team play by the Saints on Saturday night led them to a 3-0 bashing of Lander in Peach Belt action.

North Georgia (8-6-1, 4-3 PBC) played arguably its best soccer of the season against Lander on a chilly night in Dahlonega. In a match that saw the seniors honored prior to kickoff, the Saints did not disappoint those in attendance. Scoring three goals for just the third time this season, North Georgia left no doubt who the better team was on the night.

Gray Phelps, who has been recently acclimated to the forward position, scored his third goal of the season to get the trio of goals started. Phelps received a pretty pass inside the box from Jamie Gleeson, after Gleeson received the corner kick. The senior made his own highlight of the night in what could possibly be his final home game.

James Dobbin gave North Georgia the 2-0 lead in the 43rd minute when Juan Hurtado dropped a beautiful heel-pass to Dobbin on the move. Dobbin rewarded Hurtado with his pass and buried the shot in front of the Lander keeper. It was just Dobbin's first goal of the season, in what coach Pat Parris hopes is the first of many. Dobbin came on the pitch to spell Phelps for a bit and showed Parris it was the right move. North Georgia headed into the half up 2-0.

The shot of the night came from Gustavo Cunha in the 59th minute. Cunha drilled a missile from about 25 yards out to all but bury the Bearcats. After Cunha received a beautiful touch pass from Hurtado following a corner, he took one dribble and amazed the crowd finishing upper 90 far side of the keeper. It was the midfielder's second goal of the season, and it was much deserved.

Arguably the story of the night was the return of Saints goalkeeper Rade Tanaskovic. The senior dislocated his elbow earlier in the season and it appeared as though he would not return. Tanaskovic picked a perfect night to return between the posts. His defense provided him a wall all night and Tanaskovic recorded his fifth win of the season. Finishing with five saves in the game and earning another shutout in his illustrious career, Tanaskovic returned back to his all-conference ways.

The defense provided another zero on the scoreboard for the Saints following the golden goal win over Georgia Southwestern on Wednesday. Ben Tayi, Jesy Phelps and Chris Bishop were at the top of their game once again. Switching to just three backs is proving to be a key and aggressive move for coach Parris and his Saints.

Lander (7-6-1,4-2-1) finished with 15 shots in the game and eliminated their chance at a regular season Peach Belt Conference Championship.

UNCP, Montevallo Battle to 1-1 Draw

MONEVALLO, Ala. – A breakaway by Julia Haselbeck in the final 20 seconds of the second overtime missed right, and despite an 8-1 advantage in shots on goal, the UNCP women's soccer team ended with a 1-1 Peach Belt Conference draw against Montevallo in Montevallo, Ala., on Saturday afternoon.

UNCP (8-4-3, 3-4-2 PBC) once again had trouble putting a ball in the net, but did manage to score its first goal in the 83rd minute in unassisted fashion by freshman Amalia Arvidsson. It was UNCP's first goal since Kayla Colon scored the second goal in UNCP's 2-0 win over USC Aiken on October 5 - a span of more than 230 minutes.

"We are very frustrated with our inability to score goals," said UNCP head coach Lars Andersson. "We had 18 shots and eight were on goal. We allowed just one single shot on goal and that resulted in a goal and a game in which we had to come from behind. Our frustration as a team is evident, and we have gotten to the point to where we are rushing things in the final third because we are aware of the fact we are not scoring. However, Peach Belt points are always hard to come by - especially on the road. We are going to be a very difficult out the rest of the way because we are very solid defensively."

After the Falcons (5-10-1, 2-5-1 PBC) got on the board first on a goal by Christine Prince, their first and only shot on goal, UNCP had to rally through the final 12-plus minutes to break through offensively.

Arvidsson led the squad with three shots on goal and her fifth goal of the season, while junior Fanny Forsman added two shots on goal to the stat sheet. Haselbeck, Alisia Gustafson, Michelle Hernandez and Brittany Padilla each recorded one shot on goal apiece.

Patriots Survive Final Surge from Hurricanes

AMERICUS, GA – Sophomore forward Alex Blandin continued his scoring binge as he tallied a pair of goals and Francis Marion University withstood a late Georgia Southwestern State University rally to claim a 3-2 Peach Belt Conference road win on Saturday afternoon (Oct. 22).

The Patriots improve to 4-10-1 overall and 2-3-1 in the PBC.  FMU will entertain local conference rival UNC Pembroke on Wednesday at 4 p.m. in a key PBC match-up.

Blandin collected a miss-hit ball by a Georgia Southwestern defender and scored on a 10-yard shot to the far post in the 30th minute.

The margin grew to 2-0 at the 66:28 mark of the second half.  A pass by senior midfielder Cameron Mabee found freshman Igor Souza at the left edge of the box and Souza connected on a 7-yard shot to the far post.

However, the Hurricanes responded quickly and Jon-Luke Cannada scored just 33 seconds later to trim the margin to 2-1.
Blandin then restored the Patriots' two-goal lead when he flicked the ball to himself and scored on a 12-yard shot that deflected off the hands of Georgia Southwestern goalkeeper Garrett Blamire and into the goal.  The score is Blandin's seventh in the past five matches and his team-leading ninth of 2011, second-best in the Peach Belt.

The Hurricanes again cut the margin to one score at 3-2 with a tally in the 85th minute, but the Patriots were able to hold off any further Georgia Southwestern attacks.

Both FMU freshman goalkeeper Nick Lucido and Blamire finished the match with five saves.  Francis Marion held a 15-12 advantage in shots, while the Hurricanes led 12-4 in corner kicks.