Box Score JACKSONVILLE, FL--Seventh seeded USC Aiken defeated North Florida, the second seed, 2-1, tonight in PBC tournament action in Jacksonville, Fla. The victory was the first ever for the Pacers in the Peach Belt Conference Tournament. USCA had lost 11 straight tournament games dating back to 1991, the first season of Peach Belt soccer.
The match was also the biggest upset in PBC tournament history. A number seven seed had never defeated a two seed in the history of the tournament. The next closest upset happened last season when sixth seeded UNC Pembroke upset third seeded North Florida.
Andre Joseph scored the game-winning goal with just over four minutes left in regulation. The goal was just the sophomore's second of the season.
North Florida took an early lead with Victor Duncan's goal at the 4:45 mark.
The Ospreys held on to the one goal advantage until
Stephen Lawrence took a
Haroon Saleem cross and beat the North Florida goalkeeper to tie the game, 1-1, 12 minutes into the second period. The goal was the junior's fourth of the season.
The game remained tied until Joseph took a
Neil Berment pass and beat the goalie one on one.
The Ospreys out shot the Pacers, 20-9, and held an 8-2 advantage in corner kicks. Pacer goalkeeper
Peter Calabrese came up big. The junior played 90 minutes, stopped nine Osprey shots and allowed just the one goal.
USC Aiken had three players with two shots each, Joseph, Lawrence and
Neil Jackson. The Ospreys had three players with five shots each, Duncan, Jason Farrell and Facundo Videla.
The Pacers (7-9-1, 1-5-1 PBC) will play USC Spartanburg (16-2-0, 5-2-0 PBC) in the semifinals on Friday at 12:00 p.m. The Rifles, ranked eighth in the nation, defeated UNC Pembroke, 6-0, today in Spartanburg. USCA and USCS faced off in Spartanburg on Sep. 7, 2002 with the Rifles escaping with a 4-3 overtime win. Friday's match will be played at Francis Marion University in Florence, S.C.
Men's Soccer 1 2 Final
USC Aiken 0 2 2
North Florida 1 0 1
Scoring UNF: Victor Duncan (Tony Alteri, Jason Farrell, 4:45)
USCA:
Stephen Lawrence (
Haroon Saleem, 57:35)
USCA: Andrea Joseph (
Neil Berment, 85:48)
Shots USCA 9, UNF 20
Corner kicks USCA 2, UNF 8
Fouls USCA 12, UNF 10
Offsides USCA 5, UNF 3
Saves USCA 9 (
Peter Calabrese 9), UNF 6 (Blake Baldwin, 6)
Cards USCA:
Mamadou Samba (Y, 50:00), UNF: None