Sjorén's goal, Averett's late stops carry Cougars to USA South semifinals

Averett sophomore Camilla Sjorén picked the perfect opportunity to make the biggest impact in the Cougars’ USA South Conference quarterfinal game against Methodist on Tuesday at the Cougar Den.

Inserted in the 66th minute, Sjorén provided the calm, reassuring presence at left forward when she softly lofted a shot that Methodist goalkeeper Sara Altman couldn’t clear that proved to be the game-winner in Averett’s 4-3 victory in Danville.

The victory sends the Cougars (14-3) to Friday’s semifinals at Smith River Sports Complex outside of Martinsville.

“Cami is very good at that. She just stepped onto the field and one of the reasons why we put her on the field is she’s very calm under pressure,” Averett coach Carly Pearce said. “Just like she did in front of goal there, she took the touch, looked where she wanted to hit it and it was a great goal.”

Sjorén’s goal gave Averett a 4-2 lead and it was needed as Methodist (8-10-2) mounted a late comeback. Kristin Habig scored with 86 seconds remaining in regulation off a pass from Jessie Oder to pull Methodist to within a goal.

That gave the Monarchs an opportunity to press in the final seconds, but Averett senior goalkeeper Samantha Lupo came up with key stops.

“That fourth goal was the key to the game because without it, we would have been going to overtime. It was extremely important for her to score that goal,” Lupo said. “It’s always good to play a tough team because it prepares you for the better teams that we’re going to face like CNU and Shenandoah. This is just giving us the momentum into the semifinals.”

Averett sophomore forward Pernilla Milton, who led the USA South in goals scored (16) and points (41), scored Averett’s third goal in the first half off an assist from Allison Lord.

Milton also assisted on Sandra Johansson’s goal to open the game in the third minute. Johansson also finished with two assists.

“I think every game from here on out in the season is going to be very competitive. You lose, you’re out, so everybody’s going to give everything they can and Methodist did that today,” Pearce said.

“In this stage in the tournament, the teams that win are the ones obviously that take advantage of opportunities. We created a lot of opportunities today and could have scored five or six more goals and we’ll focus on that in practice.”

Added Sjorén: “We always take the good parts with us from a game. We scored four goals. We played well, we had some good opportunities, so maybe we should have scored some more goals. We should take that with us.”