by Kevin Buczek
BELMONT, N.C.-Third-seeded Barton College will be going for its sixth straight win on Thursday afternoon in the semifinals of the 2013 Conference Carolinas Tournament when the Lady Bulldogs visit Belmont Abbey College at Alumni Field at 2 p.m.
The Barton-Belmont Abbey winner will host the winner of the other semifinal in the championship game on Saturday at 1 p.m. Eighth-seeded King University visits fourth-seeded Pfeiffer University on the other side of the bracket.
Barton College Women's Soccer
The Lady Bulldogs have advanced to the semifinals of the Conference Carolinas Championship for the first time since 2005. Barton (14-5 overall) has won five consecutive games.
Barton eliminated sixth-seeded North Greenville in dramatic fashion in the quarterfinals on Monday. The Lady Bulldogs trailed 1-0 and were less than three minutes from being eliminated when sophomore Emily Futral scored the game-tying goal in the 88th minute on a free kick taken by senior Kasey Byzewski. Barton kept the momentum and a sophomore Jodi Barber golden goal in the 92nd minute finished off the 2-1 overtime win. Senior Taylor Parrish and freshman Kelly Dolan had assists on the game-winning goal.
Barber, who was named Conference Carolinas Player of the Week for a second time on Tuesday, maintains her position as the league's top offensive threat, leading the conference with 15 goals, nine assists and 39 points.
Futral and Parrish also rank in the top-10 of the league in scoring with nine and eight goals, respectively. Byzewski is tied with Barber for the most assists in the conference with nine apiece.
Junior goalie Carson Moore continues another quality season in net for the Lady Bulldogs with a .821 save percentage and a 1.09 goals against average (both numbers rank fourth in the league). Moore has been credited with the win in goal in all 14 BC victories.
Barton upset Belmont Abbey in the regular season, winning a tight 1-0 contest in Belmont, N.C., on Oct. 12. Futral scored the game-winner in the 88th minute on a penalty kick. The Crusaders were ranked sixth in the region at that time. Moore made five saves en route to one of her six shutouts.
BC is 6-4 on the road including its win at Alumni Field.
Belmont Abbey College Women's Soccer
The Crusaders have rattled off a half dozen consecutive wins since losing to Barton in mid-October. Belmont Abbey is 14-3-1 overall and has moved up to fifth in the current NSCAA/Continental Tire Southeast Region Top-10 Poll.
Belmont Abbey has amazingly not allowed a goal since Barton scored on its PK attempt with the Crusaders recording six straight shutouts. Junior goalkeeper Hannah Kohls leads Conference Carolinas with nine shutouts and 0.43 goals against average. Kohls also ranks second with a .879 save percentage.
The Crusaders advanced to the semifinals with a 2-0 win against seventh-seeded Limestone College on Monday. Meghan Philp scored the game-winner in the first half and Cassidy Coutinho netted an insurance goal in the second half while Kohls only needed to make one save to preserve the clean sheet.
Senior Silvia Vazquez – the 2012 Conference Carolinas Tournament MVP – has helped anchor the Crusaders stingy defense.
Ananda Gebreyesus leads the Abbey and is tied for second in the league in goals behind Barber with 12. Philp follows with nine goals. The duo has combined for nine of 14 game-winning goals on a squad that is averaging 2.4 goals per contest.
Belmont Abbey, a perennial power that has won seven Conference Carolinas Tournament titles and qualified for the NCAA Division II Soccer Tournament six times, is 6-2-1 at home.
Multimedia
Belmont Abbey sports information will not be providing live stats or video to Thursday's Conference Carolinas Tournament semifinal match against the Lady Bulldogs. Barton sports information will try and provide some in-game updates on twitter.
Barton soccer fans can follow the Lady Bulldogs throughout the season on www.BartonBulldogs.com and via social media including Twitter and Facebook.
