Davidson 1, Furman 0
DAVIDSON, NC ? Matt Allen headed home the eventual game-winner in the 58th minute of play to lead Davidson to a 1-0 victory over Southern Conference rival Furman in men's soccer action Wednesday evening at Alumni Stadium.
The win was the fourth straight for the Wildcats as they improve to 10-4-1 overall and remain unbeaten in the league at 3-0. Furman drops to 5-6-4 on the season and 3-3 in the Southern Conference.
Cass Baltz set up the difference maker playing a cross into the box finding Allen for his third game-winner this season and first goal since Davidson played UMBC to a 2-2 draw on Sept. 11. The assist was the third of the campaign for Baltz.
“It’s been a while since I’ve scored,” said Allen. “When you play a forward/midfielder position, they tell you to keep putting shots on frame and good things will happen. Fortunately it went that way this evening.”
Furman’s best chance to equalize came in the 60th minute when the Wildcat’s keeper Ben Ashton came off his mark leaving an open goal for Brian Martin, who’s shot missed just right of target.
Davidson finished with a slim 11-9 shots advantage forcing Furman's Bryan Amos to make three saves. Ashton recorded three stops en route to his fourth shutout of the season.
“I really proud of how well we played defensively,” said Davidson head coach Matt Spear. “Their effort tonight was very deserving of a shutout.”
The Wildcats return to action in a 1 p.m. kickoff at Southern Conference foe Elon on Saturday. Furman will play Radford on Oct. 23.
“We had a tremendous home stand and have really built our confidence. Now we have to continue this momentum and take care of business on the road against some very tough opponents,” commented Spear.
Georgia Southern 1, Mercer 0
MACON, GA - Lawrence Smith's goal 41 minutes into the game proved to be enough as Georgia Southern held on for the 1-0 non-conference win at Mercer Wednesday evening at Bear Field. With the win, the Eagles are now 7-6-1 on the year, while Mercer falls to 7-7-0.
Smith scored on a Brad Mitchum corner kick, after Stephen Jensen took the inbound pass, feeding Smith for the game-winner.
Georgia Southern's Adam Webb recorded his third shutout of the season, after stopping five shots on the day. Mercer's David Bird recorded four saves in the loss.
The Eagles outshot the Bears 10-9, with five shots coming from Smith.
UNC Greensboro 6, High Point 1
HIGH POINT, NC ? Hermann Award candidate Scott Jones scored twice and added an assist as UNC Greensboro exploded for five goals in the second half for a 6-1 win over High Point in men’s soccer action Wednesday night.
The six goals were the most by a UNCG team since November 5, 2002. The five tallies in the second half were also the most since that November 5, 2002 game when UNCG defeated The Citadel, 11-2. UNCG’s bid for four consecutive shutouts was halted with just under 10 minutes to play. UNCG has not recorded four consecutive shutouts since 1990 when it was an NCAA Division II member.
Jones, who scored the game-winner in a 3-2 overtime win over High Point last year, got UNCG on the scoreboard at 35:16. Jamie Carlson fed a ball from the back to Mike Richardson along the left sideline. Richardson played a through ball to Jones at the top of the box. Jones found himself one-on-one with High Point keeper Adam Ross and hit a ball into the bottom right corner of the goal for his second goal of the season a 1-0 lead.
UNCG could have led by more at the half if it weren’t for the play of Ross. The Ragsdale HS product and Greensboro native made several saves when the Spartans dominated play for a good part of the first half. At intermission, UNCG had a 10-4 advantage on shots of goal and had more scoring chances than that.
The Spartans took a 2-0 lead early in the second half on Michael FitzGerald’s third goal of the season. FitzGerald hit a shot from 11 yards out, which Ross knocked down. However, FitzGerald gathered in the rebound and found the net on the second try from nine yards out to give UNCG a two-goal lead at 50:56.
Jones, who set a career-high on Wednesday night with five points, then made a 3-0 lead at 63:21. He gathered a loose ball near midfield, dribbled in and hit a blast into the goal from 20 yards out for his third tally of the season.
Jones tacked on an assist when he started a corner kick and Jamie Carlson headed it in at 76:21 for a 4-0 advantage.
As both teams emptied their benches, Paul Zazenski and Mike Richardson added unassisted tallies for UNCG in the final 12 minutes, while High Point’s Christian Morfaw broke the shutout bid with a goal at 80:27.
UNCG keeper Jay Benfield played the first 67:15 and did not allow a goal to extend his shutout string to 417:12. The senior from Lewisville, NC has not allowed a goal in the month of October and last allowed a score on September 27 in a 1-0 overtime loss at then-second ranked North Carolina.
#17 Wake Forest 3, Appalachian State 1
WINSTON-SALEM, NC - Appalachian State University men's soccer jumped out to an early 1-0 lead but couldn't fend off a three-goal second-half barrage from No. 17 Wake Forest, falling 3-1 in Winston-Salem.
Appalachian grabbed the match’s first lead in the 39th minute. After Wake Forest defender Pat Phelan was whistled for a hand ball just outside the penalty area, the Mountaineers were awarded with a free kick. Juan Obregon’s (Castle Rock, Colo.) ensuing kick was headed into the goal by Happy Hall (Nassau, Bahamas) at 38:34. The goal was Hall’s second of the season.
Appalachian State held onto the lead through halftime, but the Demon Deacons awoke in the second-half. Wake Forest tied the match at 50:33 on a goal from senior Justin Moose. The forward slipped a shot underneath charging Appalachian State goalkeeper Alec Dufty (Raleigh, N.C./Wakefield).
The Deacs continued to attack the Mountaineer goal and grabbed a 2-1 lead on Stephen Curfman’s free kick from 20-yards out in the 63rd minute. Curfman curled a shot over the wall and past a diving Dufty into the back of the net.
Moose and Curfman then teamed up for Wake Forest’s third goal of the match. Moose dropped in a perfectly lofted pass to a streaking Curfman, who went one-on-one with Dufty. Curfman blasted the shot past the netminder into the far corner at 67:41 for his second goal of the match.
The Demon Deacons outshot the Mountaineers, 17-3, on the night. Dufty recorded six saves for Appalachian State. Wake Forest registered eight corner kicks, while the Mountaineers failed to record a single one.