UNC Greensboro 2, Appalachian State 0
BOONE, NC - UNC Greensboro, ranked in all four major college soccer polls, escaped the ASU Soccer Stadium with a hard-fought 2-0 victory over the Appalachian State University men’s soccer team today, October 4. The Mountaineers had numerous opportunities to score but couldn’t capitalize on the their opportunities as good fortune fell squarely on the Spartans side of the ball.
“I’m not sure how we didn’t score today,” said head coach Paul Stahlschmidt. “We were really unlucky with all the opportunities we had, but UNCG is a national power and it was a good game between two good teams. Today showed we can play with anybody.”
The win is UNC Greensboro’s 10th straight in conference play over the last two seasons, as it now stands at 7-3-0 and 2-0-0 in the Southern Conference. The loss drops ASU to 4-5-1 and 0-2-1 in SoCon action. The match was extremely even with UNCG holding a slim 14-10 advantage in shots and an 8-6 lead in shots on net.
UNCG scored its first goal in the 11th minute from Randi Patterson who collected the long ball, dribbled through the far side of the box and blasted a shot into the far corner past the goalkeeper. The score was Patterson’s 10th goal of the season.
After the quick score, the Appalachian defense clamped down in excellent fashion, giving up only one scoring opportunity, a penalty kick, the rest of the half. Patterson took the penalty shot but was denied by freshman keeper Alec Dufty (Raleigh, N.C./Wakefield), who made a diving save to his left.
ASU opened the second half with the same stingy defense as the team looked for the equalizer, which it nearly found in the 68th minute, as UNCG goalkeeper Jay Benfield was forced out of position by a Tate Parrish (Acworth, Ga./Harrison) shot. Shawn Berting (Wilmington, N.C./New Hanover) was nearby to direct the rebound towards the net, however, at the last moment a UNCG defender stopped the ball before it could cross the line.
UNCG added an insurance goal two minutes later when it was awarded a free kick. UNCG’s Egill Atlason elected to quickly kick the ball laterally to Mike Richardson at the top of the box before the ASU defense could get set. The strategy worked as Richardson rolled the ball in from 15 yards to give UNCG a 2-0 lead that it was able to hold until the final whistle.
“I’m really proud of our team,” said Stahlschmidt. “This is the first time we’ve put in 90 minutes of good effort and I know we’ll bounce back from this and be a better team.”
Georgia Southern 2, Wofford 0
STATESBORO, GA ? Freshmen Jon Kinsler and Ben Reine scored their first goals of the season leading Georgia Southern to a 2-0 victory over Wofford Tuesday afternoon in Southern Conference action. With the win, the Eagles improve to 6-3-1, 1-1 in SoCon action, while Wofford falls to 3-5-2, 0-2 in SoCon play.
Kinsler got the Eagles on board 41 minutes into the game as he took a pass to the right side of the box from Lawrence Smith and sent the ball through several Wofford defenders into the net, giving the Eagles the 1-0 lead at the break.
After several shots on goal in the second half, Reine connected with Jason Tindall on a cross to the center of the box, and sent the ball over Wofford keeper Joey Taylor’s head, making the final score 2-0.
GSU keeper Adam Webb made four saves in the shutout, while Wofford’s Taylor had seven saves. The Eagles registered 18 shots, while the Terriers had eight.
Furman 2, College of Charleston 1
MT. PLEASANT, SC - Furman used two goals in the first half to hang on to the 2-1 win over the College of Charleston in men’s soccer action this evening at Patriots Point Field.
Charleston drops to 5-4-2 overall and 1-1-0 in the SoCon, while Furman improves to 3-4-4 and 1-1-0.
Furman scored first at 14:02 when Josh Villalobos sent a corner kick from the left side to the middle and to Mark Futrell who passed it to Shea Salinas. Salinas was able to sail the ball just out of the reach of the goalkeeper for the netter.
Charleston tied the game up at 18:52 as Jeremy Gold broke away from the pack close to midfield and went one-one-one with the goalkeeper and won with a shot just to the left.
Furman answered at 33:34 when Brian Martin netted a goal after being set up by another corner kick, this time by Salinas on the left side.
Furman out-shot Charleston 12-7, with the Cougars taking the 6-1 advantage in saves. Martin paced the Paladins with four shots, while Gold led CofC with four.
Wake Forest 2, Davidson 1
WINSTON-SALEM, NC ? No. 16 Wake Forest used a pair of first half goals and held off a late Davidson charge to defeat the Wildcats 2-1 in men’s soccer action Tuesday evening at Spry Stadium.
The victory improves Wake Forest to 7-3 on the season, while the Wildcats fall to 6-4-1 overall.
Grey Ballard scored the game’s first goal on a header off a Ryan Solle corner kick. The 15th minute score was the first of the season for Ballard, while Solle ran his nation leading assists total to 12.
"A lull in the first half cost us the game," said Davidson head coach Matt Spear. "We fell asleep on their corner kick to spot them an early 1-0 lead."
Davidson’s best opportunity in the opening half came when David Sartorio sent a cross into the box that just missed a cutting Robby Hoak from point blank range.
Wake Forest extended its lead to 2-0 when Justin Moose netted his third score of the season in the 28th minute of play. Moose beat a pair of Wildcat defenders and fired a shot from about 10 yards past a diving Ben Ashton for the eventual winning score.
Hoak put the Wildcats on the board in the 72nd minute with his team-leading sixth goal of the 2005 campaign. Cass Baltz played a pass wide to Mac Wilkie who sent a ball into the box finding Hoak for the back heel flick.
"The goal by Robby was just what we needed to re-energize and believe we could win," commented Coach Spear.
Davidson had two great chances to equalize late in regulation on a pair of free kicks just outside the box. Hoak just missed both opportunities, the first from the right side in the 88th minute and the last with just over eight minutes remaining.
Wake Forest held a 13-5 shots advantage. Both Brian Edwards and Ashton finished the contest with a pair of saves.
"We loss to a very good team, there is no shame in that," said Spear. "We have to build on the momentum and fight we showed in the second period. If we can do that for 90 minutes we'll be in position to beat great teams on the road."
The win was the eighth consecutive for the nationally-ranked Demon Deacons over the Wildcats. Wake Forest now leads the all-time series 19-4-1.
North Carolina 2, Elon 1, 2OT
CHAPEL HILL, NC - Sophomore midfielder Dax McCarty netted a free kick off the post with 2:29 left in the second overtime to give No. 4 North Carolina a 2-1 victory over Elon Tuesday at Fetzer Field.
McCarty's second goal of the season came after the Tar Heels missed on several scoring opportunities late in regulation and earlier in overtime. Carolina freshman forward Stephen Bickford was fouled by an Elon defender just outside the 18-yard line, and McCarty nailed the free kick off his left-hand post and into the net for the victory.
Freshman Scott Campbell, who leads the team with five goals and has scored in three of the last four games, came up with the Tar Heels' first score early in the opening half when he one-timed a Ben Hunter cross into the net from four yards out in the 18th minute. Defender Michael Harrington set up the play when he served the ball to Hunter on the left flank. Hunter then sent the cross to Campbell at the far post for the tap-in and the early lead.
Elon tied the match in the 57th minute when freshman forward Kiki Willis, who took six of the team's eight shots, nailed a free kick from 25 yards out. Following a Tar Heel foul, Willis powered home low liner into the left-hand corner of the net for his eighth goal of the season.
After tying the match, Elon played 10 men in the defensive third of the field for much of the final 50 minutes of play and did not attempt a shot after the 71st minute. The Tar Heels managed 21 shots on the night to eight for the Phoenix.