PEMBROKE – Behind the two goals of Taylor Piorkowski, the visiting Lander Bearcats picked up a 2-0 Peach Belt Conference victory over the UNC Pembroke women's soccer team at Varsity Grounds on Wednesday evening.

Lander (9-0-0, 5-0-0) continues its perfect run through the 2013 campaign, while improving to 7-6-3 all-time against UNCP (5-5-0, 3-3-0).

"I thought Lander came out and played with much more intensity, it just looked like they wanted it more than we did. I'm disappointed in our effort, obviously this was an opportunity to put ourselves at 4-2 in the conference and in the hunt for a first-round home game come tournament time. I know this team is young, I know this team is inexperienced, but our valleys are too low, we've had some great peaks this year, but this was a low, it just wasn't good enough. I tip my cap to Lander, they deserved to win," said UNCP head coach Lars Andersson.  

Piorkowski, who picked up her fourth and fifth goals of the season in the victory, opened the scoring in the 18th minute on a header into the upper right corner after a service in the box from Erin Dooley. Piorkowski would strike again in the second half as Nina Morales' pass accross the goal mouth found Piorkowski who pushed the insurance goal across at the 48:10 mark.

The Bearcats used an aggressive first half offense, firing off 12 shots compared to just one shot from the Black and Gold. Lander's defensive front was able to keep UNCP to just nine shots on the evening. Both squads picked up seven fouls in the second half, the Lady Braves a bit more forceful overall finishing with 11 total fouls. 

Rae-Shawna Campbell tried to get something going for the UNCP offensive effort, tallying five shots, including three shots on goal. Carolina Sanchez added two more shots, while Savanna Stiles had the Lady Braves' only other shot on goal. 

UNCP netminder Britney Bennett completed a full 90:00 minutes in goal, facing 18 shots from the Bearcats. Bennett collected four saves, bringing her season saves total to 56, which is tied for third in the PBC. Katie Lyle recorded a perfect 90:00 minutes between the pipes, earning her fifth shutout of the season.

The Black and Gold return to pitch on Saturday to host PBC rival Georgia College (5-5-1, 2-3-1) in a 1 p.m. tilt in Pembroke at Varsity Grounds.

To watch the game click HERE.