Box Score EVANS, Ga. – The eighth-seeded University of South Carolina Aiken men's soccer team continued its magical run with a 5-4 shootout win over fourth-seeded Young Harris in the Peach Belt Conference Men's Soccer Tournament Semifinals on Friday evening at Blanchard Woods Park.
The semifinal victory over Young Harris allows the Pacers to advance to the Peach Belt Conference Tournament championship game for the first time since 2006. USC Aiken is still searching for its first Peach Belt Conference Men's Soccer Tournament title.
The Pacers are the first-ever eighth seed to advance to the Peach Belt Conference Tournament Championship game.
USC Aiken will face off against second-seeded Montevallo in the championship game at 3:30 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 4 at Blanchard Woods Park. Montevallo dispatched of third-seeded Flagler, 2-0, in its semifinal on Friday.
USC Aiken (6-5-6) and Young Harris (14-4-2) entered the shootout tied at 2-2.
The two teams would be tied 4-4 in the shootout through the first five shooters. After USC Aiken's Jason King (Montego Bay, Jamaica/USC Salkehatchie) converted his penalty kick next, Young Harris' Jonas Sturesson was stymied by Pacer goalkeeper Brandon Jarosz (Bluffton, S.C./Bluffton HS).
The save by Jarosz garnered USC Aiken its second straight shootout win in the Peach Belt Conference Tournament. USC Aiken downed national No. 6 Lander, 4-3, in a shootout in Greenwood, S.C. on Tuesday, Oct. 30.
USC Aiken's Chinedu Arinze (Stone Mountain, Ga./Georgia State), Noel Mais (Atlanta, Ga./Kingston College), Tobias Haenschke (Kempten, Bavaria, Germany/Fach-und Kempten) and Scott Newby (Leicestershire, U.K./Wreake Valley HS) all made their penalty kick attempts in the shootout in addition to King.
King assisted on both Pacer goals in the match. After Young Harris' Khurram Shazad scored early in the sixth-minute, Haenschke would even the game for the Pacers at 1-1 after he headed in a cross from King.
In the 31st-minute, USC Aiken would take the lead in the game for the first time when Mais rebounded a King shot into the back of the Young Harris net.
Young Harris' Andreas Pechmann would square the game at 2-2 on a penalty kick in the 78th-minute.
USC Aiken ended the match with a slight 11-9 shot advantage. Both teams took five corner kicks.
Jarosz made two saves in the match.
