Lady Barons prevail 2-1 over Atlanta Christian

MOUNT VERNON -- It has been said that the best defense is a good offense, and that was the premise the Brewton-Parker College women's soccer team operated under in the Lady Barons' 2-1 win over Atlanta Christian College on Saturday.

The game, played at Brewton-Parker's Ed Moses Soccer Field on a beautiful fall afternoon, featured frequent shifts of momentum, frequent attacks and counter-attacks, two great saves by the goalkeepers on penalty kicks and finally - after suffering four straight losses -- a victory for the Lady Barons.

Early in the first half, sophomore Ashley Meyer of Alma, Ontario, saw the Atlanta Christian goalkeeper off her line and chanced a shot from about 40 yards that went in to start the scoring. The goal was Meyer's team-leading fifth of the season.

At that point, the Lady Barons turned up the pressure and began bringing players up out of the back to add to the attack.

Sophomore Avianne Tobias of Toca, Trinidad and Tobago, came out of her sweeper position to score a brilliant unassisted goal using deft footwork and pure determination to break through the ACC defense, get one-on-one with the goalkeeper and power a shot into the back of the net just out of reach of the keeper.

Shortly thereafter, however, ACC took advantage of the gaps left open in the back by the attacking Lady Barons and scored on a counterattack to close within a goal.

During halftime, Lady Barons coach Bill Glass asked the team to keep up the pressure while maintaining its formation, and the team responded by eliminating the gaps the Lady Chargers had exploited during the first half while continuing to create scoring opportunities and carry the game to the visitors.

"We had the best balance we have had all season," Glass said. "Ashley Meyer and junior Karen Taylor of Burlington, Ontario, were working good combinations on the left side of the field while two freshmen, Ginny Ashley of Adel and Erin Bower of Waycross, did the same on the right."

The win came three days after the Lady Barons (2-11-1 overall, 0-2-1 conference) took a 3-0 loss in Georgia-Alabama-Carolina Conference play at Shorter College in Rome, Ga.

Brewton-Parker looked to maintain a good balance between the offense and defense when its schedule for this week began Tuesday, with a home GACC match against Emmanuel College.

Conference action continues Saturday with another conference game against North Georgia College and State University beginning at 2 p.m. at the Ed Moses Soccer Field. The Lady Barons' home schedule concludes Wednesday, Oct. 15, against the Indiana-based University of St. Francis beginning at 3 p.m.

--BPC--

Brewton-Parker College goalkeeper Michelle McRaven, a sophomore from Brunswick, makes a diving save against Atlanta Christian College in the second half of the Lady Barons' 2-1 soccer victory Saturday at the Ed Moses Soccer Field in the Brewton-Parker campus in Mount Vernon.