Box Score GREENWOOD, S.C. – The eighth-seeded University of South Carolina Aiken men's soccer team knocked off top-seeded and nationally sixth-ranked Lander in a shootout in the first round of the Peach Belt Conference Men's Soccer Championship at the Jeff May Complex.
Lander's Brett Jankouskas scored the first goal of the game in the 15th-minute.The goal was the third of the season for Jankouskas.
USC Aiken (6-5-5) would even things up in the contest in the 37th-minute. Noel Mais (Atlanta, Ga./Kingston College) netted the goal for the Pacers when he was able to score directly off his own corner kick.
The goal was the third of the season for Mais.
Neither team would be able to score the rest of the way, sending the game into a shootout.
USC Aiken connected on four of its five attempts to claim a 4-3 win in the shootout.
Chinedu Arinze (Stone Mountain, Ga./Georgia State), Mark Hanlon (Dublin, Ireland/Blackrock College), Tobias Haenschke (Kempten, Bavaria, Germany/Fach-und Kemptenand) and Scott Newby (Leicestershire, U.K./Wreake Valley HS) all successfully converted their attempts for the Pacers in the shootout.
Lander (12-2-2) held a 28-12 shot advantage in the contest overall. The Bearcats took 12 of the 17 corner kicks in the Pacer win.
Reigning Peach Belt Conference Goalkeeper of the Week Brandon Jarosz (Bluffton, S.C. /Bluffton HS) made seven saves for the Pacers in the match.
The game officially ends in a 1-1 tie per NCAA rules, but with the shootout win over No. 6 Lander, USC Aiken advances to the final four of the Peach Belt Conference Men's Soccer Championship.
The semifinals and finals of the PBC Tournament will be held Nov. 2-4 at Blanchard Woods Park in Evans, Ga. Blanchard Woods Park is also the site of the 2012 NCAA Division II National Championships.
USC Aiken will face off against fourth-seeded Young Harris in the semifinals at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 2. Young Harris advanced to the semifinals with a 2-1 victory Tuesday over fifth-seeded UNC Pembroke.
For more information on the 2012 Peach Belt Conference Men's Soccer Championship, please visit the official tournament website at: http://www.peachbeltconference.org/information/12soccertournament/index
