Falcons Advance to PBC Championship Match

EVANS, Ga. – The University of Montevallo men’s soccer team (17-2-1) took down No. 1 seed and fourth-ranked Clayton State University (16-3) in the semifinals of the 2010 Peach Belt Conference Tournament held at Blanchard Woods Park in Evans, Ga. The Falcons won in a thrilling match that featured seven goals, 4-3. First Team All-PBC performer Nathaniel Foster (Brampton, Ontario/Humberview Secondary School) provided two of the Falcons goals including the game-winner.

UM got the action started just 3:41 into the game as senior Alex Ghoja (Elkmont, Ala./Bob Jones) fired a shot from 38 yards out that fund the upper right corner of the net and gave the Falcons a 1-0 lead. UM made it 2-0 just under 10 minutes later as Foster picked up his first goal of the game as he finished a cross from senior Milan Pualic (Subotica, Serbia/Srednja Ekonosmka Skola School). Junior Phil Jackson (Lincolnshire, England/Queen Elizabeth's) also received an assist on the play.

Down 2-0 the Lakers responded in the 29th minute as Sam Bevan headed in a free kick from Brett Neilson to cut the lead to one. Just 29 seconds later Ryan Pugh received a pass from Igor Lukic and shot the ball off a Falcon defender to tie the game at two.

In one of the quickest goals in school history Ghoja scored just six seconds after the Pugh score to give the Falcons back the lead. Foster was credited with the assist.

UM headed into halftime with a 3-2 lead and up a player as David Duot of Clayton State received his second yellow card of the match just minutes before halftime. Montevallo had two saves in the period, one by freshman goalkeeper Brendan Ledgeway (York, England/All Saints) and the other by a Falcon defender.

CSU’s keeper Brian Garcia made one stop in the first half while allowing three goals. CSU won the shooting battle as the Lakers had nine shots compared to UM’s five.

The second half had much less fire power than the first as both teams settled into the game. Foster sent home the game-winner just five minutes into the period as he found himself one-on-one with the goalkeeper after a CSU turnover.

Just 12 minutes later the Lakers cut the lead to one as Rhys Jukes scored to make the score 4-3.

Both teams were unable to score in the final 28 minutes of play. CSU had seven shots none of which were on goal while the Falcons took six shots forcing Garcia to make three saves.

Late in the period Pualic was given a red card which evened out the teams for the final 20 seconds of action. Pualic will not be eligible to compete in the Championship Match against No. 3 seed Flagler College on Sunday, Nov. 7 at 3:30 p.m. (EST).