PBC TOURNAMENT SITE

PEMBROKE – Forward Kate Weisner tied a school record with three assists in a game and the junior added a goal of her own to push the UNC Pembroke women's soccer squad past visiting Clayton State 4-3 in a Peach Belt Conference (PBC) quarterfinal matchup Wednesday evening at Lumbee River EMC Stadium.

The Braves (12-3-2) saw leads of 3-0 and 4-1 evaporate, but held off a late charge from the Lakers (9-7-1) to advance to the conference semifinals for the fifth time in program history. UNCP will do battle with the third-seeded and No. 17 Nighthawks of North Georgia in the semifinals, after they took down Flagler 3-2 in their quarterfinal duel. 

Sophomore Stacey Scott scored the first of her two goals in the 13th-minute, taking a pass from Weisner and streaking down the right side past the Laker defenders before beating the keeper one-on-one. Her second tally of the night in the 28th-minute was eerily similar to the first, once again blowing through the back line after a dish from Weisner to set up another one-on-one opportunity with the Laker netminder, extending the Black & Gold lead to 3-0. Scott's two goals give her a team high eight this season and push her into the team lead with 19 total points.

The Braves' second strike came just 49 seconds after the opening tally, when a pair of passes from Weisner and Scott gave redshirt-freshman Carly Rochelle an open net and she did not disappoint. Weisner's long ball down the right side of the pitch fell perfectly to the foot of Scott, who sent a cross past the diving keeper to Rochelle's right boot for her sixth goal of the season. It's Scott's third assist of the 2016 campaign.  Weisner's three assists give her a team-best six on the season.

With under a minute to go in the opening half, Clayton State erased their zero on the scoreboard when a corner kick from Iciar Duran glanced off UNCP keeper Gina Ryan's hands and into the net after Ryan lost the ball in the sun.

After coming out of the halftime break with a 3-1 lead, the Braves added their fourth and final tally in the 47th-minute when Weisner placed the ball perfectly between the keeper's outreached hand and the crossbar to net her third goal of the season. Rochelle's second assist of the year set up Weisner at the top of the box from about 19 yards out.

Two Clayton State goals, one in the 56th-minute and a penalty kick in the 65th-minute, inched the Lakers within one of the Braves, but the hosts buckled down and held the Lakers scores over the final 25 minutes to secure the victory.

The guests out shot UNCP by a slim 14-13 margin and both sides racked up seven shots-on-goal. Clayton State took eight corner kicks, while the Braves were awarded just one.

Ryan made four saves in net for the Black & Gold and Scott paced the home side with four shots. Weisner, Rochelle and redshirt-freshman midfielder Kristina Stevenson each took a pair of shots.

The Braves and Nighthawks will do battle in the semifinals of the league tournament Friday night in Evans, Georgia. Kickoff is slated for 8 p.m. at Blanchard Woods Park. For ticket information, directions and hotel options, visit the tournament site here. The regular season meeting between the squads ended in a 3-3 draw after the Braves scored in the 82nd-mintute to force overtime. UNCP holds a 6-3-3 advantage in the series history with North Georgia. Friday night's first semifinal will kick off at 5 p.m. and pit top-seeded and fifth-ranked Columbus State against the winner of the quarterfinal matchup between No. 5-seed Young Harris and No. 4-seed Armstrong State.