UNCP women finish with best record ever

By Joel Beachum
Staff Writer

With a win last Saturday at USC Aiken, the UNC Pembroke women’s soccer team set a new personal best.

The 2-1 victory helped them finish the regular season at 12-5-1 overall and 5-2-1 in the Peach Belt Conference. The win also gave them 16 points in conference play putting them in fourth place – the best finish for the team in school history, and the team is just through the regular season.

Freshman midfielder Lauren Townsend commented on the season to date and being a part of the success that UNCP has found. She said that the team chemistry has been a huge part of their accomplishments.

“It feels good that we came in with the team that is breaking all the records,” Townsend added. “I think that we (as freshmen) look up to them (the upperclassmen) and follow their examples. We came together this season already with a lot of team camaraderie.”

That places UNCP just behind Columbus State and Clayton State, which tied for the PBC crown with 19 points, and Armstrong Atlantic who finished in third place with 18 points. During the regular season, UNCP defeated Columbus State by a 2-1 final, but they lost games against Clayton State by a 3-0 final, and to AASU in double-overtime 3-2.

For the Lady Braves, the second half of games continue to be good to them, as both goals against USC Aiken came in the last 45 minutes of play.

Jamie Clarke scored on a goal from Nina Ratzkowski in the 48 th minute to give the Lady Braves a 1-0 lead. Clarke then did some assisting of her own with a corner kick that Kelly Jones headed into the back of the net for UNCP to make the score 2-0. Melissa Schnoering added a late goal for the Lady Pacers, but the Lady Braves defense would not be denied shutting down the door from that point.

The USC Aiken game was important because with a win UNCP played as the host team in the PBC tournament, but a loss would have sent them on the road.

“That was the deciding game whether or not we played at home or away, so that was really a big win for us,” Townsend said.

UNCP led the shot total 15-10, but the Lady Braves did find the frame eight times to that of three by USC Aiken. Melanie Cobb finished with five shots, three on goal. Jones and Clarke each had three shots. Jones found the frame twice. Clarke found the frame one time. Hillary Helms had two saves in goal for the Lady Braves. Whitney Beverly as well played in goal for the Lady Braves in the win.

“It was a rough game. There was a lot of physical play in the game,” said Beverly after the contest with Aiken. “I felt like we dominated play until the last 20 minutes, then we struggled a little bit.”

In order to get a better seeding in the conference tournament, UNCP needed at least a tie in the last two PBC games. Beverly commented on the fact that both the talent of the incoming players and the skill level of the experienced players helped them reach that goal, but they still are looking at more goals for the future, including in 2005.

“We (as freshmen) never had that freshmen-upperclassmen barrier,” she added. “We felt like we were a part of the team. Our team has a lot of talent and a lot of skill players matched up well all season and brought a lot of competition within our team. That was a good thing.”

One week prior, Lander University came to town and the game ended with a 1-1 tie against UNCP for senior day.

Before the game, Katie Stokes, Jackie Bower, Sarah Dagnachew and Erin Rowley were all recognized for their efforts over their time at UNCP as seniors.

For the first 70 minutes, it looked as though it was going to more of a celebration for Lander, as they held a 1-0 advantage.

As several UNCP players took chances near the goal, it was Kelly Jones finding the right touch for the game-tying goal at the 70:42-mark in the contest. Jones, who had three shots and two on goal, finished second on the team in scoring for the season with 10 goals and three assists. Cobb, who finished the Lander game with three shots and two on goal, led the team in scoring with 12 goals and one assist. Clarke finished the regular season third in scoring with six goals and three assists, despite missing six games due to a knee injury.

n goal, Helms finished the regular season with 43 saves for a 1.29 goals-against average in 835 minutes of playing time. Helms went 6-3 during the season. Whitney Beverly finished the regular season in goal with 35 saves for a 1.31 goals-against average. Beverly had a 5-2 record during the regular season.