M. Soccer

GREENWOOD - Adam Arthur scored both goals as the second-seeded Lander men's soccer team advanced to the Peach Belt Conference Tournament semifinals with a 2-0 quarterfinal victory over No. 7 seed USC Aiken Tuesday night, setting the stage for a rematch with Clayton State on Friday.

The Bearcats, 11-5-1, will face Clayton Friday afternoon at 5 p.m. on Field 3 at Blanchard Woods Park in Evans, Ga., outside Augusta. The No. 3 seed Lakers shut out sixth-seeded UNC Pembroke, 5-0, in a PBC quarterfinal match earlier Tuesday evening. Clayton State, also 11-5-1, has 10 shutouts this season and has allowed only two goals in its last nine games.

Lander defeated the Lakers, 1-0, in an important Peach Belt regular season finale on Saturday, with the Bearcats' Jamie Ramm scoring the game's only goal. The win clinched second place for Lander in the regular season standings.

The Bearcats wasted no time in taking the lead against USC Aiken (7-11-1) Tuesday. Arthur scored off an assist from Ben Jones just 5:05 into the match. Arthur nailed the shot from the left side, approximately 10 yards out, into the right side of the net.

The score remained 1-0 until the 70:21 mark when Arthur scored his 14th goal of the season with a five-yard shot from the right side. The goal was unassisted, but was set up by Samy Beydoun's corner kick. Even after that goal, the Pacers were out-shooting Lander 9-8.

The Bearcats held on the rest of the way. USC Aiken had an 11-8 edge in shots and 6-3 in corner kicks. Lander goalkeeper Matthew Atkinson had three saves while USC Aiken's Andray Charles had two stops.

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