MORROW, Ga. – After closing the regular season in fourth place, the Clayton State women's soccer team will host North Georgia Saturday night for the opening round of the Peach Belt Conference Tournament which is presented by Select Sports.

Gametime will be at 7 p.m. at Laker Field. Tickets can be purchased here. Cash will not be accepted. Students from PBC institutions will be allowed to enter for free with a valid school ID. Children under five will also be admitted for free.

The winner of Saturday's game will advance to the PBC semifinals, which will be played at Blanchard Woods Park in Evans, Ga.

UNG leads the overall series 10-9-4. The last time the two teams met in the PBC tournament was in the semifinals in 2019. After playing to a 1-1 draw, the Lakers advanced 5-4 over the No. 18 Nighthawks in a penalty kick shootout.

At home, Clayton State is 7-2-2 against the instate rival.

The Lakers and Nighthawks tied for fourth in the conference standings with 18 points apiece, but with Clayton State's 1-0 win over UNG on Oct. 23, the Lakers won the tiebreaker.

This marks the first time since 2012 that the Lakers have finished inside the top four of the conference standings.

Clayton State enters Saturday's game having won three-straight, all shutouts, and five of its last six matchups. The only loss was to No. 2 Columbus State.

North Georgia comes back to Morrow on a one-game win streak as the UNG took down Georgia Southwestern 2-0. Prior to that, they dropped three-straight including the 1-0 defeat to the Lakers.

In the past two weeks, three women's soccer players have earned PBC Player of the Week honors. Reia Henry earned the award on Monday after scoring the gamewinner with 36 seconds left in double overtime against Young Harris.

The week before, Valentina Bonaiuto and Kamila Mroziewicz earned Goalkeeper of the Week and Defender of the Week recognition, respectively. Boniauto would then go on to be named National Player of the Week but the United Soccer Coaches.

Henry leads the team with eight goals and is tied for fourth in goals and is tied for sixth in points. Bonaiuto is tied for second in the conference with five shutouts and if fourth with 59 saves. 

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