PEMBROKE – The UNC Pembroke women's soccer team outshot Georgia Southwestern by an impressive 42-5 margin to open up Peach Belt Conference action by overpowering the Lady 'Canes, 4-1, on Saturday afternoon at Varsity Grounds.

The Lady Braves (3-1-0, 1-0-0 PBC) remain perfect all-time against Georgia Southwestern (0-3-0, 0-1-0) and improve the 8-0-0 in the series. UNCP was aggressive on offense, taking 20 shots in the first half and following up with 22 shots in the second half. The Lady 'Canes were not as fortunate on offense, taking just five shots through 90 minutes of play. 

Rae-Shawna Campbell was once again UNCP's leading shot taker, firing off seven shots, including three shots on goal. Campbell currently leads the league in shots taken with 28. Freshman Carolina Sanchez notched the first two goals of her UNCP career, scoring twice in the first half. The Black and Gold also got goals from Julia Nytorp, who scored her second goal of the season, and newcomer Michelle Brown. Between the pipes, Britney Bennett played a full 90 minutes, allowing one goal after facing five shots and grabbing one save.

Georgia Southwestern's five shots marked a season-best for the Lady 'Canes, and a goal from Kaylee Krohn was the first score on the season. The Lady 'Canes got one shot apiece from five different people, and one shot on goal each from Krohn and Krisit Sheridan. Time in the net was split between Vanna Lucke and Elyse Gowan who each recorded 45 minutes in goal. Lucke and Gowan tallied four saves and nine saves, respectfully.

"Strangely enough I thought we played a better second half than first half, even though we only got one goal in the second half. Our play in the final third was very good, I thought our runs off were the ball were good and our shape in the final third was good. There were a lot of good things in the final third," said UNCP head coach Lars Andersson. 

UNCP's defense prevented the Lady 'Canes from making any sort of noise in the second half, not allowing Georgia Southwestern to take a shot during the final 45 minutes. The Lady Braves were able to add a little extra insurance as Brown netted her first goal of the season in the 73rd minute of play off of a rebound. The remainder of the half the Lady 'Canes fought to gain possession of the ball, but the Lady Braves defense proved to be too resilient.

Not even five minutes into the start of the match Sanchez put the Lady Braves on the board, sending the ball into the bottom left corner of the net, with assists from Campbell and Sherrie Gessin. It wouldn't take long for the Lady 'Canes to answer back as Krohn got the ball past Bennett through the upper right corner of the box in the fifth minute of play. On an assist from Sanchez, Nytorp claimed the game-winning goal for the Black and Gold at the 12:01 mark, as she executed on a one-timer in front of the net. Sanchez gave UNCP a 3-1 advantage before the half, after connecting with the bottom right corner of the goal from 10 yards out in the 36th minute. Amber Watkins and Campbell earned assists, helping set up the scoring play for Sanchez.

The Lady Braves finish their three-game home stand on Monday as they host regional foe Wingate (2-0-2) in a 5:30 p.m. match at Varsity Grounds.

To watch the game click HERE.