First round loss offers future hope

Soccer ends its Fall season with a 0-1 fall to Armstrong Atlantic in PBC Tournament

The women’s soccer team’s fall season came to a close on Tuesday, Nov. 1, with their 1-0 loss against Armstrong Atlantic State University in Savannah, Ga. The game eliminated them from the first round of the 2011 Peach Belt Conference Tournament.

Both teams played excellent defense during this opening game of the 2011 Peach Belt Conference Tournament and at the end of the first half, the game remained scoreless.

At the beginning of the second half, both teams’ defense continued to prevent any scoring. The 0-0 tie was broken when 16:19 remained in the second half, Kristina Pascutti, the leading scorer for the Pirates, placed the ball into the back of the Bobcats’ net on a breakaway opportunity to give Armstrong Atlantic a 1-0 lead.

Although the Bobcats fought to tie the score, they were unable to score on the Pirates’ defense and Armstrong Atlantic took the first round PBC Tournament victory.

On Oct. 26, the Bobcats team played a victorious game against the University of South Carolina Aiken, where they shut out the Pacers 6-0.

“Going into the game we all just knew that we needed to win, so we had a good warm-up, did our jobs and won the game,” freshman midfielder Ashley Veilleux said. “We knew they were a very physical team.”

This game marked Veilleux’s favorite game during the 19 game season of 2011.

The first goal of the Senior Night game was made by sophomore midfielder/forward Brittaney Borror just eight minutes after the game began.

Borror redirected a cross that came from junior defender Jamie Colcord and gave the Bobcats a 1-0 lead. This was Borror’s second goal of the season.

Ten minutes after the first goal was scored, the next came when freshman midfielder Ashley Veilleux took a cross from freshman forward Abby Dalton and scored the first of her two goals, giving the Bobcats a 2-0 lead.

The third and final goal of the first half was scored when 36:56 had passed. Senior forward Erica Padula scored on an individual effort and gave GC a 3-0 lead going into halftime.

The Bobcats continued to play aggressively as the second half began. At 17:14 in the second half, Dalton scored her second goal with an assist from Colcord for a 4-0 lead.

KateRamsey | gcsunade.com

Freshman Ashley Veilleux (left) led the team by two goals against USC Aiken in the final game on Oct. 26. She tied Jamie Colcord for second in assists with three for the season.

Eight minutes later, GC secured a five-goal cushion over USC Aiken when senior midfielder Karen Bonilla landed the ball into the back of the USC Aiken net. The final goal of the game was scored when 5:54 remained when Veilleux, with an assist from sophomore midfielder/forward Alex Knight, gave the Bobcats their final score 6-0 over USC Aiken.

“We all meshed as a team, and we were all really excited to play. We have traditions every year, and since this was our Senior Night game, the underclassmen decorated the locker room,” senior defender Tawny Moffat said. “Two out of the four seniors got to score during this game, and it really made us proud.”

Moffat acknowledged her feelings about ending the season, being her last at GC, as bittersweet. She is excited about starting a new life, but sad to leave her love of soccer behind.

The USC Aiken Senior Night game marked the last home game of the season, but then the Bobcats were off to battle for a place in the Peach Belt Conference Tournament on Oct. 29, against Flagler College in St. Augustine, Fla. This game, however, did not prove to be as successful as the previous game. The Bobcats suffered a tough defeat against Flagler with the final score a 5-0.

“This season, each player gave their all and contributed, and the experience will surely roll over into next season,” Clark said. “We can all expect to see things fall nicely into place. There’s always a tough schedule, but I’m confident that they will do well.”

Posted by KateRamsey on Nov 10 2011. Filed under Lead stories, Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.