FLORENCE, SC – Freshman forward Alexis Pittman knocked in a rebound of her own shot in the 29th minute to lift UNC Pembroke to a hard-fought 1-0 win over upset-minded Francis Marion University, Wednesday night (Oct. 4) in Peach Belt Conference women’s soccer action.

Francis Marion (3-5-0, 0-4-0) will play at Young Harris College on Saturday at 2:30 p.m.  The next home contest for the Patriots will be Oct. 14 against Columbus State University at 4:30 p.m.

The second-place Braves improve to 7-3-0 and 4-1-0.

FMU looked to take an early 1-0 advantage in the fifth minute when sophomore Camilla Lazoski served a ball to the top of the UNCP 6-yard box, but Braves goalkeeper Gina Ryan beat Patriot forward Kylie McElroy to the ball by half-a-second negating a possible shot.

The Braves broke the scoreless deadlock at the 28:49 mark.  Carly Rochelle served the ball into the penalty area where Pittman took control and shot.  FMU sophomore goalkeeper Micahla Kitchen made a stop of the shot, but the ball rebounded to Pittman who found the back of the net with her second attempt.

The pesky FMU squad looked to find the equalizing goal in the second half and came close on several occasions.  After being outshot 16-1 over the opening 77 minutes, Francis Marion put forth five attempts over the final 13 minutes.

Sophomore Carli Gauthier put a long shot on frame that forced Ryan to field the ball on a difficult bounce in the 78th minute. One minute later, freshman Sarah Moll put a 23-yard shot on frame that Ryan stopped but spilled and McElroy was there to put a rebound attempt on goal that was snared and controlled by Ryan.   

For the match, UNCP held a 17-5 advantage in shots and a 5-1 edge in corner kicks.

Kitchen registered a career-high nine saves, while Ryan made three stops.

UNC Pembroke (7-3-0, 4-1-0 PBC) def. Francis Marion Univ. (3-5-0, 0-4-0 PBC) 1-0
Date: Oct 04, 2017  Attendance: 126
Weather: Partly Cloudy, 78, Winds E @ 8 mph

Goals by period         1  2  Tot
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UNC Pembroke........  1  0 -  1
Francis Marion Univ.  0  0 -  0
 
SCORING SUMMARY:
1-0.  28:49 UNCP Alexis Pittman (4) (unassisted) - First shot by #3 saved, knocked in rebound from 4 yards out

Shots: UNC Pembroke 17, Francis Marion Univ. 5 ; Saves: UNC Pembroke 3 (Gina Ryan 3), Francis Marion Univ. 9 (Micahla Kitchen 9)

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