UNCP Falls To Armstrong Atlantic, 5-1
PEMBROKE – The UNCP women’s soccer team could match Armstrong Atlantic’s shots but not their goals as the Pirates of AASU handed UNCP their third-straight Peach Belt Conference loss on Saturday evening, 5-1, on Varsity Grounds.
AASU (11-3-3, 7-2-0 PBC) spoiled Senior Night for the Lady Braves, handing UNCP (8-7-1, 3-5-1 PBC) their most lopsided loss since 2006 when UNCP lost a contest with Tusculum, 5-0.
Britney Joiner led UNCP’s offensive charge of the night, picking up a trio of shots, two of which were on goal. Joiner was followed by Fanny Forsman, Karmi Dagnachew and Anna Svensson who tallied a pair of shots each while Sam Dunn, Emily DesJarlais, Faye Corbett and Brittany Padilla all logged a single shot.
Senior Kristin Burton of AASU was a key player for the Pirates offense, putting away a hat trick and tallying one assist in just 65 minutes of play. Burton’s first goal came in just shy of the second minute (1:55) when she took the ball through a slew of UNCP defenders to go one-vs.-one with goalkeeper Rea Segoviano.
Burton’s second goal came off a free kick that was awarded to AASU after a foul committed by Heather Jones outside the penalty area (24:40). The Pirates second goal found the head of Morgan Mitchell following a service off of a corner kick by Burton in the 62nd minute (62:31).
Twenty minutes into the second half, UNCP was awarded a penalty kick and given the opportunity to put themselves on the board. Forsman did just that for the Lady Braves, putting the ball low and to the left past Pirate goalkeeper Meghan Mayville.
Burton picked up her third and final goal of the game in the 68th minute (68:03) when she, again, took on UNCP’s defensive line single-handedly to put a ball into Segoviano’s net. The trio of goals Burton put away against UNCP counts towards her 87 total career goals, giving her the all-time goal scoring lead in the PBC.
Armstrong Atlantic found their final goal in the 72nd minute (72:47) as freshman Danielle Fey serviced a corner kick to the head of sophomore Bjorg Magnea Olafs.
“The setback definitely put a damper on Senior Night,” said head coach Lars Andersson, “We are retiring some players this year that the program will truly miss.
“Heather Jones has been a mainstay on this squad and has started in all but 10 games in her collegiate career, and Jenny Irvine has truly been a role model to this team, both on and off the field. I know the girls will do great things post-graduation, and the team and I wish them the best of luck.
“As for the game tonight, I think it would be an understatement to say we are disappointed with the way our season is coming to an end. There is really no excuse why we should be performing this poorly so late in the season.
“However, this upcoming week we have another Peach Belt contest to face (against North Georgia on Saturday afternoon) which is going to determine what happens to us these next couple of weeks.”
UNCP will be traveling this week, first making a stop at Barton on Wednesday for a contest with the Bulldogs at 5 p.m., then continuing on to North Georgia on Saturday with a kickoff scheduled for 1 p.m. at the Saints’ soccer complex.
