COLUMBUS, Ga. – As has been the case all season, the UNCP women's soccer squad played sound defensively but struggled in the final third in falling to host Columbus State by a 1-0 score on Tuesday afternoon during the quarterfinal round of the Peach Belt Conference Tournament at the Walden Soccer Complex in Columbus, Ga.

The Lady Braves (9-6-3) saw their season come to a close with the defeat and the loss is the third time in the last four seasons UNCP has seen its  PBC Tournament run come to an end at the hands of the Lady Cougars (14-3-2). 

"Unfortunately the 2011 season will go down in the books as a 9-6-3 season," said UNCP head coach Lars Andersson. "It's fair to say that our season fell well short of the expectations we had going into it. Our program has set the standards very high with two trips to the second round of the national tournament over the last three years. We've become recognized as a regional and national power and we simply didn't play well enough this year to meet that same standard. Of our six losses, five have been by one goal and one was by two goals and three have been in overtime - so we're not far off. We defend very well as a squad just like we did today. It is difficult to win when you don't score goals and that's something that has plagued us throughout this season. It's something we need to address in the offseason, during spring soccer and during our recruiting efforts with the 2012 recruiting class. We aim to get back to the standard we have set for ourselves next season."

Columbus State's Stephanie Lowery scored the game's only goal in the 18th minute of the contest when she took a pass from Jaci Carithers and chipped it over the head of UNCP goalkeeper Britney Bennett. 

Bennett posted 10 saves during the match while facing 21 shots and CSU's Mary Mancin faced just four shots (one on goal) during the contest.

Freshman Amalia Arvidsson posted UNCP's lone shot on goal during the contest while also leading the squad with two total shots. Junior Fanny Forsman and sophomore Cassie DeQueiroz each added one shot apiece.