Lady Canes struggle vs. No. 11 UNC Pembroke

Lady Canes struggle vs. No. 11 UNC Pembroke

The No. 11 University of North Carolina Pembroke women's soccer team defeated Georgia Southwestern 7-0 Saturday afternoon at Hurricane Field paced by a four-goal performance from Melanie Cobb.

UNCP's first strike of the afternoon came in the 28th minute from eight yards out when Sam Dunn connected on a throw in from Brittany Greaves. The Peach Belt Conference's second- leading goal scorer Cobb would find the back of the net two minutes later when she got a foot on a rebound from Britney Joiner.

The last goal of the first half would add a goal to Joiner's previous assist when she broke away down the right sideline in the 36th minute and beat the goalkeeper in a one-on-one challenge from 10 yards out.

Cobb added her second goal of the game when Greaves lofted a cross from the midfield and Cobb took advantage of an open goal to tap the ball into the net at the 50:40 mark. UNCP (14-1-1, 5-1-1) made the score 5-0 following a laser shot from Ashley McManus when she rifled the ball over the outstretched fingertips of the GSW goalkeeper Lindsey Richardson from the top of the penalty area.

Cobb would score the final two goals of the game in the 53rd and 59th minutes, respectively. The first would come when sophomore Karmi Dagnachew put a pass through the defenders and Cobb took the shot in stride to beat Richardson from 12 yards out. The second goal was scored when senior Nisa Akins took a shot which was initially saved by Richardson, but Cobb found the ball in the mix in front of the net and tapped in the rebound.

UNCP outshot the Lady Hurricanes 40-5 and held a 8-2 corner kick advantage.  Senior goalkeeper Lindsey Richardson stopped 13 shots for GSW. Whitney Beverley saved two for UNCP.

The schedule doesn't get any easier for the Lady Hurricanes (5-12-1, 0-5-1 PBC) as they head up the road to No. 5 Columbus State on Wednesday for a 7 p.m. match.