Elon 2, UNC Greensboro 1. OT
ELON, NC - Kiki Willis’ shot banked off the left post and right to Brett Paschall who put the ball past an outstretched Jay Benfield to lead the Elon Phoenix to a 2-1 overtime victory over 17th-ranked UNC Greensboro Spartans in men’s Southern Conference soccer action from Rhodes Stadium on Wednesday night in front of a crowd of 1,120. The Elon win snapped a 13-match SoCon unbeaten streak for the Spartans (12-5-0, 5-1-0 SoCon) who last dropped a league match to Appalachian State in October of 2003. Elon (8-8-2, 4-2-1 SoCon) clinched the #3 seed in the upcoming Southern Conference tournament with the win.
UNCG jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the 10th minute when Randi Patterson scored his 14th goal on the season on a blast from the right of the goal that went low to the far back corner. The tally was unassisted.
Willis evened the score in the 36th minute when he headed a cross from Paschall for his ninth marker of the year.
The score remained even throughout the rest of the first half and for the second 45 minutes of play.
In the 94th minute, Willis took a shot from right of the goal that hit the far post and came right to Paschall’s feet. The sophomore redirected the rebound for the game-winner, his seventh score this season.
“This was a tremendous win for our team tonight. We secured a home game in the tournament and that has been a goal for us all season. Tonight was a tremendous battle. We have great respect for Coach [Michael] Parker and the UNCG program,” said Elon coach Darren Powell.
The Spartans outshot the Phoenix 18-12 overall and 7-5 on goal, but were unable to find the back of the net after Patterson’s goal. The Spartans were whistled for 14 fouls to 11 for the Phoenix and earned seven corners to two for Elon
Benfield recorded three saves for UNCG while Elon’s Taylor Saxe corralled six saves. Both keepers with the full 93:50.
Longwood 2, Appalachian State 1, OT
FARMVILLE, VA - An exciting final minute of play led to overtime, however Longwood scored four minutes into overtime to deliver a 2-1 decision to the Appalachian State University men's soccer team.
"I'm not sure we could have dominated this match in any other category besides scoring," said head coach Paul Stahlschmidt.
The Mountaineers held an 11-9 advantage in shots and forced Longwood into committing 26 fouls to ASU's six. The Lancers were also carded four times in the match. With the non-conference loss, the Apps' fall to 7-9-1 overall and will enter this weekend's Southern Conference tournament as the No. 6 seed to face No. 3 seed Elon. Elon claimed the No. 3 seed by virtue of a 2-1 overtime victory over No.17 UNC Greensboro.
After 89 minutes of scoreless action, the Lancers took the lead when Miq Umar scored with 58 seconds remaining in regulation on the assist from Marcus Dixon.
Appalachian responded with just two seconds left as sophomore J.T. LaBruyere (Asheville, N.C./T.C. Roberson) scored his fourth goal of the season. A foul by Dixon at half field gave Appalachian State a free kick with just seconds remaining. ASU goalkeeper Alec Dufty (Raleigh, N.C./Wakefield) placed the free kick into Longwood’s box to LaBruyere who hit a shot that went off the post and into the goal.
In overtime, Longwood scored the gamewinner 4:46 into the first overtime period when Todd Runey headed in a free kick taken by Sean Harney.
Clemson 2, Furman 1
CLEMSON, SC ? Dane Richards found the back of the net with 11:15 left to go in regulation to give the Clemson Tigers a 2-1 win over the Furman Paladins at Riggs Field.
Furman ends their regular season at 7-7-4, while Clemson improves to 9-4-3 overall.
Clemson took a 1-0 lead into halftime after scoring the game’s first goal with a minute left in the first half. Mark Buchholz garnered the goal for the Tigers.
Furman squared the game when Josh Villalobos sent a long ball to Dominic Cianciarulo, who took the ball and found his fifth goal of the 2005 season.
Clemson walked away with the win after Furman was not able to clear the ball out of their box and Richards volleyed the ball just under the crossbar from eight yards out to give the Tigers a 2-1 victory.