Box Score
FRANKLIN SPRINGS, Ga. – Belhaven midfielder Jordan Organ scored in the fourth minute of the game and the Blazers never looked back after that, rolling to a 3-0 victory over Emmanuel College in the opening contest of the Southern States Athletic Conference schedule.

The Blazers traveled to Georgia in hopes that the start of their conference schedule would be kinder to them than the early season schedule was. Belhaven entered the contest with a 2-5 record, including an 0-2 mark away from home.
Belhaven (3-5, 1-0 SSAC) struggled on the road in the SSAC last season with a 0-6 record. The Blazer women knew they would need a spark to ignite to the confidence necessary to carry them to an important conference win.

Organ's early goal did exactly that.

The junior was able to collect a long crossing pass from freshman defender Ashley Harber on the left side of the field. Organ blasted a shot from about 20 yards out, over the head of Lions' goalkeeper Breanna Grizzle.

The Belhaven defense was able to keep the Emmanuel (4-4, 0-1 SSAC) attack bottled up; only allowing one shot on goal out of eight taken by the Lions in the first half. Blazers' keeper Nicole Walsh had two key saves in the contest, one in each half to preserve the shutout.

The two teams traded possessions back and forth without any great scoring opportunities until Belhaven leading scorer Rebecca Ontero added an insurance goal in the 57th minute. Ontero gathered a ball from Organ in the middle of the pitch and blasted the ball from 25 yards away. Similar to the first goal, the ball sailed over Grizzle's head and into the back of the net for a 2-0 lead.

Belhaven kept the pressure on Grizzle and the Lions defense for much of the second half, forcing her to make four saves in the second half and five total in the game. Organ, Ontero and Laura Quintero were able to keep the ball on the offensive side of the field and chew up the clock for Belhaven.

Their consistent efforts eventually led to another golden opportunity with only two minutes remaining in the game. Saje Pernie placed a shot past the Emmanuel keeper once again, but it hit off the post and caromed back into the fray.
An Emmanuel defender gathered the ricocheted ball, but accidentally put the ball into her own net when trying to clear it.  The Blazers won't receive credit for the goal in the stat sheet, but the relentless pressure by the offense is what created the third and final score.

Coach Josue Sabillon was all smiles following the big conference road win. “This was a great start for us in conference, especially on the road,” Sabillon said. “The girls played so well and it can give us confidence as we get ready for another conference game on Saturday. Conference games give them a heightened urgency to play for a bigger purpose and that manifested itself today by scoring the first goal early.”

The Blazers will look for another confidence building win as they travel to Brewton-Parker in Mount Vernon, Georgia on Saturday. Kickoff is at 12:00 PM for that contest.