Columbus – The twenty-third ranked Columbus State women's soccer team was unable to capitalize on their scoring opportunities and eventually fell to No. 8 Lenoir Rhyne 1-0 Sunday afternoon in a non-conference matchup at the Walden Soccer Complex.  The Lady Cougars fall to 6-3-2 on the year while LR improves to 8-1.

Carley Griffin gathered a CSU cleared ball just shy of midfield and took a couple of dribbles into space and fired a shot from 35-yards out that hit the bottom of the crossbar and rolled into the back of the net putting the visitors ahead 1-0.  Griffin took the team lead with six goals on the tally in the 17^th minute.

Columbus State's best opportunity to get the equalizer came when Emily Husted got behind her defender down the left side of the field.  With a pair of teammates in the box wide open, Husted tried to play the ball across into the box but the serve was blocked out of bounds.

The Lady Cougars came out even more aggressive in the second half and completed dominated the flow of the game.  CSU outshot the Bears 14-2 in the frame but were unable to connect for the tying goal.

Kansas Bayly hit a rocket of a free kick from just inside midfield which was deflected at the 18-yard box by a LR player which Caitlin Scruggs had to make a diving save to keep from going into the net.  On the ensuing corner kick, Jackie Ellis got a clean header off but another save by Caitlin Scruggs kept the visitors ahead.

Freshmen Kiana Nicholson and Kelsey Pelletier each had great looks late in the second half but both their looks rolled just wide of an open net.  CSU's final scoring opportunity came from Ashton Ziadie in the 89^th minute, but was again denied.

Scruggs earned the player of the game honors making five critical saves, all in the second half for the eighth-ranked Bears as she improved her record to 8-1.  Mary Mancin suffered the loss for the Lady Cougars falling to 6-3-2 picking up her lone save in the first half.

Columbus State outshot LR 16-9 in the contest and held a decisive 9-0 advantage in corner kicks.  A total of 22 fouls were called in the match, 15 of them against the Bears.

This is the first time CSU has lost back-to-back matches since the 2005 season when they lost 3-2 in overtime to Alabama-Huntsville and 2-1 to UNC Pembroke.

The Lady Cougars will look to end their skid on Wednesday, October 5 when they travel to Americus to take on Georgia Southwestern in a Peach Belt Conference matchup.  Kickoff is scheduled for 5:00 p.m.

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