Davidson 2, Appalachian State 1
DAVIDSON, NC ? A goal by Davidson junior Marco Antunez with under a minute to play in Wednesday night’s Southern Conference soccer match lifted the Wildcats (11-5-1, 4-1 SoCon) to a 2-1 victory over visiting Appalachian State (7-7-1, 2-3-1 SoCon) on Senior Night at Alumni Stadium.
“Marco’s goal will be very important as a confidence boost,” Davidson head coach Matt Spear said. “We all know he has the ability to win games for us.”
Davidson enjoyed a 1-0 advantage for more than 88 minutes of play tonight after senior Matt Allen netted the game’s first goal with just 12 ticks gone from the clock. The forward received a rebound off classmate Jeff Davis’ blocked shot and lofted the ball in from about 15 yards out past Mountaineer goalie Alec Dufty.
Although the teams registered a combined 24 shots on the evening ? Davidson 15, ASU 9 ? 88:31 went by without a goal after Allen scored. ASU’s Tate Parrish charted his seventh goal of the season on an unassisted shot, taken from the top of the 18-yard box, to lock the game up at 1-all with 1:17 remaining in regulation. Overtime seemed imminent, but 26 seconds later, Antunez took a forward pass from junior Mac Wilkie and beat a Mountaineer defender to drill a low shot in from about nine yards out for the game winner.
“What a great way to celebrate seven wonderful seniors with an exciting win over a conference rival,” Coach Spear said. “It was a special night for Matt Allen to score the early go-ahead goal. These seniors have enjoyed four winning seasons and accelerated the program’s success during their time here.”
In goal for ASU, Dufty tallied five saves, while Wildcat sophomore keeper Ben Ashton picked up two.
College of Charleston 1, Campbell 0
MT. PLEASANT, SC - Rondell Honora scored in the 21st minute to lead the College of Charleston Cougars to the 1-0 win over the Campbell Camels in men’s soccer action tonight in front of 256 fans at Patriots Point Field in Mt. Pleasant, S.C.
Charleston improves to 8-7-2 overall, while Campbell drops to 10-4-1.
Goalkeeper Hunter Gilstrap took a free kick from just beyond midfield and sailed it to Scott Milroth, who at 18 yards out, headed the ball to Honora eight yards out, who in turn headed it past the goalkeeper for the eventual game-winner.
The Cougars out-shot the Camels 13-11, and led 5-4 in saves. Honora led Charleston with four shots and Willy Guadarrama led Campbell with three shots.
Winthrop 8, Georgia Southern 1
ROCK HILL, SC ? Saidi Issac’s five goals in the first half led Winthrop to an 8-1 victory over Georgia Southern Wednesday evening at the Winthrop Soccer Complex. With the win, Winthrop improves to 8-6-1, while Georgia Southern falls to 7-8-1.
Issac put Winthrop on the board two minutes into the game off a cross from David Kenga. Georgia Southern responded, as Lawrence Smith scored off a Julian Donaldson free kick less than two minutes later, tying the game at 1-1.
At the 8:14 mark, Issac tallied his second goal of the evening off a header from Kenga, putting Winthrop up for good. Issac scored three more times in the first half, giving Winthrop the 5-1 edge at the break.
Winthrop’s Daniel Revivo scored in the 73rd minute, while Kenga recorded two goals late in the game for the final 8-1 margin.
Winthrop’s Andy Reid tallied three saves on the day, while GSU’s Adam Webb had four stops.
Wake Forest 1, UNC Greensboro 0
GREENSBORO, NC ? Michael Lahoud tallied his fifth goal of the season midway through the first half and it held up as Wake Forest edged UNC Greensboro, 1-0, Wednesday night in front of a crowd of 1,313 at UNCG Soccer Stadium.
Lahoud scored at 27:27 from eight yards out for the game’s only goal. He took a feed from Wells Thompson, made a run through the box to try to shake off two UNCG defenders and then hit a blast from eight yards out into the lower left corner of the net.
Although both teams had several outstanding chances after that, neither team could score in a wide open second half. Wake Forest hit the post twice and had a near-miss on a bicycle kick thanks to a great save by Jay Benfield in the second half.
Benfield made four saves on the night, but saw his shutout streak end at 534:39. The tally by Lahoud was the first allowed by Benfield since a golden goal back on September 27 at North Carolina.
UNCG had several chances late, as well, including a free kick sequence from 20 yards out with 34 seconds left. However, the Spartans, who have pulled out two home wins this season on goals inside of the final minute of play, didn’t have another rabbit in the hat on Wednesday night as the Demon Deacons toughed it out.
UNCG, ranked as high as No. 10 by College Soccer News this week, fell to 11-4-0 with the loss, three of the losses coming by shutout against North Carolina, Connecticut and Wake Forest. The Spartans saw their winning streak halted at six matches.
The Demon Deacons, ranked as high as No. 19 by Soccer America this week, improved to 10-4-2 win the victory.