GREENWOOD, S.C. – In a match a month in the making, the Lander women's soccer team dominated the second half and scored two goals minutes apart to earn a 2-2 draw with Clayton State on Monday afternoon at
Van Taylor Stadium.
The contest originally started back on Sept. 19 before persistent rain fell over the
Jeff May Complex and the match was suspended in the 23rd minute with Clayton State up 1-0. Fast forward to today – the final day of the regular season – and the Bearcats did what they needed to claim the 6-seed in the Peach Belt Conference Tournament that begins on Halloween.
The Lakers – the conference's 5-seed – looked to have the upper-hand when the game resumed, scoring 13 minutes into the action in what was actually the 36th minute. Clayton State carried its two-goal advantage into halftime.
But Lander came out in full command from the second half kick-off and zapped much of the life out of the visitors.
Nicolly Oh found
Peyton Bibbee on the doorstep in the 51st minute, and
Paige Bailey wasted little time evening things at 2 in the 54th minute on a goal that deflected in off a Laker defender's foot.
The Lakers, though, weren't yet done themselves. Gabrielle Worthy got behind the Bearcat defense in the 67th minute and was presented a 1-on-1 opportunity with Lander's vaunted keeper,
Leah Hayes Coen. Hayes Coen challenged her, blocked the shot spectacularly with her left leg, and
Gianna Pacheco cleared it in a heart-pounding sequence.
Lander outshot Clayton State 12-3 in the second half and put a half dozen on the Lakers' keeper. Two of those 12 shots came off the foot of
Saige Peterson who made a pair of bids to put the Bearcats on top. The first was at the tail end of the 77th minute after Peterson won the race to a ball sent in by Pacheco, but her point-blank shot cleared the crossbar.
Peterson got another chance some 20 seconds later as
Paige Bailey intercepted the Laker goal-kick and ceded to her fellow sophomore. This time, Peterson's shot went just wide left.
Nevertheless, the final result netted Lander one point and the tiebreaker over USCA, whom they topped 4-1 on Sept. 30. That sets the Bearcats up against the 3-seed Flagler Saints in St. Augustine, Fla., this Saturday at 2 p.m. The teams played to a scoreless draw at Saints Field last month.
