EVANS, Ga. — Fifth-ranked Columbus State opened up a 3-0 lead and then had to hold on as the University of North Georgia women's soccer team put together a furious rally but ultimately could not close the gap in a 3-2 loss in the championship game of the Peach Belt Conference tournament on Sunday at Blanchard Woods Park.

Columbus State wasted little time in finding the net, getting their first goal 13:33 after the opening kick. Hugrun Elvarsdottir took advantage of a bad clearance by the North Georgia defense and put the ball home for her eighth score of the year.  CSU took that 1-0 lead into the half.

The Cougars added to that in the 57^th minute as Olivia Jarrell took a cross from Nicole Corcione and found the upper 90 on the right side for a 2-0 lead. Mandy Janowitz scored less than 10 minutes later as she finished off a through pass from Brooke Nail.

The Nighthawks seemed to be all but finished at that point, but began a rally over the final 28 minutes that began with a penalty kick at the 72:17 mark that was converted by Sophia Matonak.

That goal ignited the North Georgia offense, who began a hard press on the Cougar defense. That press paid off in the 83^rdminute as Michael Sundstrom scored.  The play began with a corner kick, which was batted around before leaking out towards the top of the box. Sundstrom chipped it high over the head of CSU keeper Maylyn Parsons to cut the lead to one. 

UNG tried to resume the press following the score, but the Cougars were able to counterattack and pin the ball deep in UNG territory.  The Nighthawks did not get another good look at goal before time expired. 

NOTES
- Jessi Vaverka and Rachel VanHorn joined Matonak on the All-Tournament team.

- Columbus State held a 14-12 edge in shots, but the Nighthawks took five of the match's seven corner kicks.

- Katelyn Siberski recorded a season-best six saves in goal for the Nighthawks.

- The loss is only the second of the season for UNG as the Nighthawks fall to 14-2-3 with both losses being identical 3-2 decisions to the Cougars.

- CSU's win marked the seventh consecutive one-goal win for the Cougars over North Georgia in the series.

NEXT UP
The Nighthawks will learn their postseason fate tomorrow, Nov. 7 at 6:00 p.m., when the NCAA Division II Championship field is announced on NCAA.com. North Georgia is likely to earn its fifth championship appearance in the past six years. The Nighthawks entered the weekend ranked second in the final public regional rankings.