GREENWOOD - The No. 18 Lander men's soccer team just needed one goal against the Flagler Saints to secure the 2022 PBC Tournament title at Van Taylor Stadium Sunday afternoon.
With the 1-0 victory, Lander improves to 11-3-5 overall while Flagler drops to 10-4-3 overall.
This marks the first PBC Title victory for Lander since 2017 when the Bearcats defeated North Georgia in penalty kicks.
Lee Squires also becomes the second Lander men's soccer coach to record 100 wins, as he joins Van Taylor on the list. Squires is now 100-29-17 since taking over the program in 2015 and holds a 140-58-24 overall record as a head coach.
The Bearcats will be making their first appearance in the NCAA Tournament since 2018 when it advanced to the National Quarterfinals.
The Bearcats used a first-half goal to do their damage against the Saints. In the 18th minute of play,
Kevin Rubaszewski fired a corner kick into the box that was headed into the goal by
Jed Smith. Smith connected on his fourth goal of the season to put him tied for fourth on the team in goals with
Carson Dinger.
Lander put 8-of-12 shots on net against Flagler while holding the Saints to just four shot attempts with nothing going on goal.
Lorenzo Ferrari picked up his seventh shutout of the season and sees his overall record improve to 8-1-3.
The Bearcats also had three players named the PBC All-Tournament Team.
Emmett Hughes,
Charlie Curtis and
Jed Smith represented the Blue and Gold while
Joe Linley was named the Tournament MVP.
The Bearcats will have to wait until Monday evening when the NCAA Selection Show is announced to find out who and where they will be playing.
2022 PBC Men's Soccer All-Tournament Team
Peter Hamhuis - Young Harris
Joe McInnes - North Georgia
Chris Salamatou - Georgia Southwestern
Mohammed Mahrous - Georgia Southwestern
Hector Fuentes - Clayton State
Isaac Pimenta - Clayton State
Tirso Trueba - Flagler
Axel Nolgren - Flagler
Miles Shanley - Flagler
Emmett Hughes - Lander
Charlie Curtis - Lander
Jed Smith - Lander
2022 PBC Men's Soccer Tournament MVP
Joe Linley - Lander
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