UNC Greensboro 1, Furman 0, 2OT
GREENSBORO, NC ? Henning Jonason has a flair for the dramatic.
For the second time this season, with the clock winding down, Jonason, a freshman from Iceland, nailed the game-winning goal, this time with three seconds remaining in the second overtime period to lift UNC Greensboro to a 1-0 Southern Conference men’s soccer victory over Furman at UNCG Soccer Stadium on Wednesday night.
With the clock winding down and the game headed for a scoreless draw, Jonason made a run from midfield and his left back position at the time. He took a feed from Randi Patterson with about nine seconds on the clock just outside the 18, made one move to his left and hit a blast into the bottom right corner of the net for his third goal of the season, which set off a wild celebration.
It was back on September 24 when Jonason scored on a free kick with 43 seconds left in regulation to give UNCG a 4-3 win over William & Mary. This time, however, it was a little more dramatic and carried a little more weight as UNCG moved to 9-3-0 overall, 4-0-0 in SoCon action. Furman, which was playing for a share of first place in the SoCon, fell to 4-5-4, 2-2-0 in SoCon play.
Furman dominated the first 45 minutes, holding UNCG without a shot until Randi Patterson’s 15 yard blast just two seconds before intermission. The Paladins held a 7-1 advantage in shots in the first 45 minutes, but UNCG keeper Jay Benfield was outstanding in the first half and throughout the contest. Benfield made several point blank saves to keep the game scoreless.
Benfield, a senior from Lewisville, NC made six saves on the night and was intercepted before he could get to the postgame dogpile by his coach Michael Parker with a celebratory hug.
Furman keeper Bryan Amos also came up big in front of the goal, including twice midway through the second overtime. First, he punched away a possible own goal after a Furman defender headed a ball inadvertently towards the net. Amos, however, punched the ball over top of the goal to keep the game scoreless.
Just over a minute later, Amos came up big again when he stopped David Grayson’s point blank shot from eight yards out to preserve the scoreless tie for just a little longer.
With the win, UNCG extended its SoCon regular season unbeaten string to 12 straight matches dating back to October 2003. It marked the fourth straight year that UNCG and Furman had their regular season meeting decided by one goal or less.
With the assist on the game-winner, Patterson now has at least one point in 10 of UNCG’s 12 matches this season
College of Charleston 3, Georgia Southern 1
STATESBORO, GA - Two goals in the first half proved to be too much as College of Charleston defeated Georgia Southern 3-1 Wednesday afternoon at Eagle Field.
With the win, Charleston improves to 6-5-2 on the year, 2-1-0 in SoCon play, while Georgia Southern falls to 6-5-1, 1-3-0 in the SoCon.
Charleston’s Darren Toby scored the first goal of the game at the 13:43 mark off a Jeremy Gold corner kick, giving the Cougars the early 1-0 lead. With 8:25 to play in the half, Toby’s pass to Matt Morris led GSU keeper Adam Webb out of position, allowing Morris to score the empty net goal, giving CofC the 2-0 advantage at the break.
Georgia Southern got on board midway through the second half as Stephen Jensen tallied his first goal of the season when his shot tipped the fingers of CofC keeper Hunter Gilstrap and went into the back of the net, cutting the deficit to 2-1, with less than 20 minutes to play.
Charleston’s Gold scored less than three minutes later, making the final margin, 3-1. CofC’s Gilstrap made six stops, while Webb had eight stops for the Eagles. The Cougars outshot the Eagles 20-13.
Davidson 2, UNC Asheville 1
DAVIDSON, NC ? Davidson scored a pair of first half goals and held UNC Asheville to just three shots to defeat the Bulldogs 2-1 men’s soccer action Wednesday evening at Alumni Stadium.
Davidson won its second straight to improve to 8-4-1 overall, while the Bulldogs fall to 2-7-1 on the season with the loss.
“This was another important win to begin a two-game streak and keep our momentum,” said Davidson head coach Matt Spear. “Winning is infectious and we want to keep pushing forward with each match."
At the 13 and 17 minute marks, Davidson’s Marco Antunez had two great scoring opportunities. The first header attempt by the Wildcat junior hit the cross bar, while the second was punched out by UNC Asheville’s goalkeeper.
Robby Hoak recorded his team-leading seventh goal of the season to give the Wildcats an early 1-0 advantage. His 34th minute score came as a result of a loose ball in the box off a David Sartorio free kick.
Davidson extended its lead (2-0) less than a minute later when Cass Baltz fired a low blast from about 25 yards finding the bottom right corner of the net. The score was the fourth of the 2005 slate for the Wildcat junior.
“I felt like a third goal would have sent a stronger impression and we could have done a better job finishing our opportunities,” said Coach Spear.
The Cats held UNC Asheville shotless in the opening period compiling a 13-0 attempts advantage. UNCA’s Scott Szymanski was the first to attempt a shot for the Bulldogs with his opportunity coming in the 70th minute.
UNC Asheville's only goal came in the 87th minute when Daniel Bandoly drove a one-on-one opportunity past a diving Ben Ashton.
The Wildcats controlled the shots column 18-3 forcing UNC Asheville’s Michael Pereira to make six saves.
Davidson continues its four-game home stand in a 2 p.m. kickoff with conference foe College of Charleston Sunday at Alumni Stadium.
“Each win feels good and this is a great habit for us right now as we continue to move forward,” commented Spear.
Appalachian State 4. Wofford 2
BOONE, N.C. ? Appalachian State University men’s soccer recorded its first conference win of the season in convincing fashion with a 4-2 victory over visiting Wofford October 12, at the ASU Soccer Stadium. Appalachian jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead and was never challenged as the team improves to 1-2-1 in the Southern Conference and 6-5-1 overall. The Terriers fall to 3-6-2 overall and 0-3-0 in the league.
Despite the score, the match was relatively close statistically, with ASU leading in shots 19-18 and shots on goal, 9-8. Wofford managed to lead in corner kicks 9-3 but couldn’t convert on its opportunities. ASU freshman goalkeeper Alec Dufty’s (Raleigh, N.C./Wakefield) six saves may have proven to be the difference as he thwarted nearly all of Wofford’s open shots on net.
Appalachian needed less than 10 minutes to fire the first salvo as Barat Killian (Raleigh, N.C./Athens Drive) took a free kick from 25 yards out and blasted the ball into the upper near corner for his first goal of the season.
Appalachian netted its second goal in the 20th minute when Cameron McCarthy (Auckland, New Zealand) and J.T. LaBruyere (Asheville, N.C./T.C. Roberson) connected on a beautiful play. McCarthy dribbled the ball up the far side from the back row and kicked a high arcing ball into the box where LaBruyere waited by the near post to put the ball in the back door behind the diving keeper.
The Mountaineers carried the 2-0 lead into halftime and 13 minutes into the second half before Corey Lugger (Irmo, S.C./Dutch Fork) was pulled down by his jersey while on a breakaway to the goal. Lugger was awarded the penalty shot and converted, booting the ball into the near corner to give the Apps a 3-0 advantage.
Wofford would go on to add its first goal in the 67th minute when R.P. Benik intercepted the ball in the back row, fed it to the midfield and Joel Kozak who redirected the pass to Carter Ladd. Ladd collected the pass and took aim at the goal from 35 yards out, putting the ball past Dufty in to the far side of the net.
The final two minutes of the match would provide its own fireworks from both teams. In the 88th minute, Appalachian’s Shawn Berting (Wilmington, N.C./Hanover) intercepted a pass 30 yards out and drove to the net. Wofford keeper Joey Thomas came out to make a play on Berting and briefly deflected the ball. However, Berting was able to corral the ball and proceed past the keeper to walk the ball into goal.
Wofford retaliated in the next minute with its own goal from Jesus Arroyo-Peco. Arroyo-Peco put a header into goal off Ladd’s far side pass for his sixth goal of the season and the final 4-2 tally. Ladd also led all players with five shots in the match.