#1 Davidson 2, #4 Furman 1
CHARLESTON, SC ? Top-seeded Davidson used two first half goals by Matt Allen to advance to the championship game of the 2005 Men’s Soccer Championship with a 2-1 victory over the Furman Paladins at Blackbaud Stadium on Daniel Island.
Allen’s first goal came exactly at the five-minute mark when Allen seemingly caught the Furman defense off guard, besting Furman goalkeeper Bryan Amos on a strike from around 20 yards out that found its way between the pipes in the upper right corner.
Allen garnered his second goal of the game at the 36:30 mark when he put the ball into the back of the net to give the Wildcats a 2-0 advantage with under 10 minutes to play in the first stanza.
Furman found their first and only goal of the match in the 54th-minute when Shea Salinas broke free from the pack just before the Davidson 18-yard box.
Davidson goalkeeper Ben Ashton seemed to have Salinas’ angle shut down, but Salinas found a way, trickling the ball just beyond the outstretched hands of Ashton to put Furman on the board at 2-1.
Furman commandeered more chances in the second half, but could not find an equalizer.
Davidson (14-5-1) advances to the championship match of the 2005 Men’s Soccer Tournament where they will square off against second-seeded UNC Greensboro at 1 p.m. at Blackbaud Stadium.
#2 UNC Greensboro 1, #3 Elon 0
CHARLESTON, SC ? A goal by Scott Jones in the first half was all that the UNC Greensboro Spartans would need in a 1-0 win over proximity rival Elon in the second semifinal of the day at the 2005 SoCon Men’s Soccer Championships at Blackbaud Stadium on Daniel Island.
The Spartan win avenged a 2-1 loss to the Phoenix on the final day of regular-season play on Wednesday, Nov. 2.
UNC Greensboro found the game’s only goal in the 37th-minute. Randi Patterson, the 2005 SoCon Player of the Year, started the sequence for the Spartans, niftily flicking a ball to teammate Jones, who fired a shot towards Elon goalkeeper Taylor Saxe.
Saxe was able to get his fingertips on the shot, but the ball bounced right back to Jones, who took advantage of the situation by placing the ball into the back of the net to give UNC Greensboro a 1-0 lead.
The goal was Jones’ fifth of 2005.
Up until the Spartans first goal neither team had procured many chances.
The best chance prior to the goal for the Spartans came via Patterson, but through stingy defense by the Phoenix, Patterson could only muster just enough on the ball to make Saxe pin the ball off the post and squander the Spartans thoughts on acquiring the first goal.
Elon’s best chance in the first half came by way of 2005 SoCon Freshman of the Year Kiki Willis.
Willis obtained the chance via a brilliant through-ball from a teammate that left him alone in the latter half of the Spartans’ defensive zone with just 2005 All-SoCon first-team goalkeeper Jay Benfield to beat.
Willis was able to bypass a sliding Benfield just outside of the Spartans’ 18-yard box, but hit the ball just right of the post to leave the game 0-0.
Neither team was able to garner serious momentum in the first part of the second half, but that nearly changed when UNC Greensboro’s Egill Atlason almost commandeered his first goal of the 2005 season when he rocketed a shot towards Elon goalkeeper Taylor Saxe.
The 2005 All-SoCon performer was up to the challenge, making a diving save and squelching the Spartans ideas of taking a commanding 2-0 lead.
The Phoenix were not going to go down without a fight, making the Spartans earn their championship match bid.
UNC Greensboro particularly withheld that furious charge from the Phoenix in the final minute of play, turning away the Phoenix on three consecutive corner kicks with all 22 players on the pitch inside the box.
The win advances UNC Greensboro (14-5) to the championship game of the SoCon Men’s Soccer Championship where they take the pitch against top-seeded Davidson at 1 p.m. at Blackbaud Stadium.