DANVILLE, Va. -- Defense and timely scoring has been the theme for the Covenant women's soccer team over the last month of play. On Monday afternoon, the Lady Scots continued that trend in a big way.

Bethany Logan scored the match's lone goal in the fourth minute and the Covenant defense again held tight as the Lady Scots notched a 1-0 upset over third-seeded, and defending conference champion, Averett in the USA South Women's Soccer Tournament first round in Danville.

Covenant (10-8-2), the tournament's six-seed, advances to play in Friday's semifinal round against second-seed Piedmont at 2:30 p.m. in Martinsville, Va. Covenant and Piedmont tied 1-1 on October 30 on Lookout Mountain.

Logan registered her team-leading 11th goal of the season early on in the first half thanks to an assist from Rachel Bernard. That was all the offensive output needed for Covenant to advance.

"We asked Goose (Bethany Logan) to get us a lead and we would hold it," said head coach Mark Duble. "Three minutes in and she did just that."

Averett outshot Covenant 20-8 for the match and 7-3 on goal, but Lady Scots keeper Hannah Bales was again spectacular at the net making seven saves. For Bales, it was her third shutout of the season.

The story of the match, however, was Covenant's back line. The Lady Scots started four freshman in Andrea Hunt, Kaitlyn Winking, Rachel Setzer and Natalie Smith. The group, along with the rest of the team, did a tremendous job of thwarting Averett attacks, especially in the final 10 minutes of the match.

"That was tooth and nail defending by 11 players," added Duble. "Second half we were under relentless pressure." 

Averett pressured the Covenant back line over the final few minutes trying to find the equalizer. The Cougars took six corner kicks over the final six-plus minutes of play, but the Lady Scots defense stood tall to clinch the final spot in the semifinal round.

Duble continued,"They are certainly a very dangerous team. We were fourtunate to win but very happy to do so."

The 1-0 win is the fourth such victory for Covenant since October 11 and the sixth victory of the year decided by one goal.

Coverage, including live stats and video, for the semifinal match will be announced later in the week.