AUGUSTA, Ga. – It took one of the absolute best teams in the country and a third straight postseason overtime to end Clayton State's (8-7-3, 5-5-1 PBC) incredible run as No. 3 Flagler (19-0-1, 10-0-1 PBC) barely escaped with a 1-0 victory in the 95^th minute of the 2019 Peach Belt Conference Tournament Championship Game and an NCAA Division II women's soccer game on Sunday, November 17.
 
It would be a defensive battle throughout, something that was made even more impressive for the Lakers as they faced a team that came in with 67 goals in 19 games.
 
Neither team would manage a ton of shots in the first half with the Saints registering five, three wide by Lorena Lopez and two by Brin Wexler, and Clayton State a pair. Of the latter, sophomore midfielder Chiara Rosener (Minden, Germany) would post the best opportunity as she forced a save at the 40:08 mark. The teams would take their 0-0 deadlock to the half minutes later.
 
The second half would be a different story entirely as Flagler outshot the Lakers 9-1 and put four of those on frame. Four of those would require a save from junior goalkeeper Valentina Bonaiuto (Valencia, Venezuela), including one that saw the attacker and her own defender crashing in on her. On top of that she made a save on Charlene Nowotny with 80:44 gone by and another with just 13 seconds to go in regulation.
 
As the teams headed to overtime, a third straight such game for Clayton State, it would be the Saints that would be able to capitalize on one of those opportunities. Annie Habeeb would charge in to the box amongst traffic and put one on Bonaiuto that she saved to the right hand side. The rebound, however, would be something else and Habeeb would recover her own and put it home to the left hand corner to lead Flagler to a narrow 1-0 victory and the 2019 PBC Championship.
 
Habeeb would lead Flagler with the lone score in the game as she fired off a game-high tying four shots, two on frame. That shot total would be equaled by Lopez and Nowotny, with the latter putting a game-high three on net. In goal Sarah-Lisa Dubel played all 94:41, making one save as she recorded the shutout to move to 19-0-1.
 
As a team the Lakers were able to muster just three shots with one on goal. Senior midfielder Manoly Baquerizo (Guayaquil, Ecuador), freshman defender Luise Domnick (Jena, Thuringia, Germany) and Rosener each had solo attempts while Bonaiuto was masterful in goal. She too played the full 94:41, making six saves – a number of which came at key moments - and allowed just the one goal to finish the season at 8-6-3.
 
For tremendous performances throughout their three games in the postseason, Rosener, senior defender Janne Brouer (Aarhus, Denmark) and senior midfielder Jane McKevitt (Thurles, Ireland) were each named to the PBC All-Tournament Team.
 
Despite a tremendous run to close the season Clayton State brings to a close the 2019 campaign. It is a year that has included 13 games of one goal or fewer allowed, three shutouts and run in the PBC Tournament to remember.
 
NOTES
The 1-0 decision was only the fourth time all year that the Saints had been held to one score and the first that went to overtime … it was the second straight one goal margin between the two teams following a narrow 2-1 defeat in St. Augustine, Florida on Saturday, October 5.