#1 Davidson 1, #8 Wofford 0
DAVIDSON, NC - Freshman Ryan Adeleye chipped home his second goal of the season off a Davidson corner kick to lead the top-seeded Wildcats to a 1-0 victory over Wofford in the opening round of the 2005 Southern Conference Men's Soccer Tournament Saturday afternoon at Alumni Stadium.
The Wildcats improve to 13-5-1 overall and advance to the semifinals of the league tournament next weekend in Charleston, S.C. Wofford ends the 2005 campaign 5-11-3.
With just under seven minutes remaining the Terriers committed a foul just outside the box awarding Davidson a free kick. Robby Hoak's blast on the free opportunity was punched out past the end line by Wofford's keeper Joey Taylor, which set up the eventual Adeleye game-winner.
“Different individuals have to step up at different times,” said Davidson head coach Matt Spear. “Today it was a freshman that came forward, what a way for Ryan Adeleye to break into a SoCon Tournament match.”
Despite the game being scoreless at the break, Davidson held an impressive 8-1 advantage in shots and attempted five more corners than the Terriers.
Matt Allen had a great opportunity to put the first goal on the board for the Wildcats in the 56th minute when he gathered a loose ball in the box and just missed an open net high.
Less than four minutes later, Wofford's Carter Ladd got past the Wildcat defense and hit the left post with a blast from 15 yards out. The attempt was just the second shot for the Terriers in the contest.
“This afternoon's game was a typical Southern Conference Tournament battle,” said Spear. “Wofford is a noble opponent that gave us everything they had, making it very tough for us.”
The Wildcats controlled the shots column 19-3 forcing Wofford's Taylor to make five saves. Ben Ashton recorded one stop for Davidson en route to his fifth shutout of the season.
Each of the last four contests between these conference foes has been decided by one goal, with Davidson claiming all four. The Wildcats improved to 14-1 all-time in the series and 11-0 against the Terriers since Wofford began SoCon play in 1997.
Davidson will battle the winner of #4 Furman / #5 College of Charleston on Friday, Nov. 11 at Blackbaud Stadium in Charleston, S.C. The 2005 Southern Conference Men's Soccer Tournament semifinal match-up is scheduled to begin at 4:30 p.m.
“We can't wait to get to Charleston next weekend. This is what you compete and prepare for all season long,” commented Spear.
#2 UNC Greensboro 6, #7 Georgia Southern 0
GREENSBORO, NC ? Michael FitzGerald had a career-high with six points and Randi Patterson tied a career-high with six points on the night as second-seeded UNC Greensboro rocked seventh-seeded Georgia Southern, 6-0, in the quarterfinal round of the 2005 Southern Conference men’s soccer tournament.
UNCG (13-5-0) advanced to gain a rematch with third-seeded Elon on Friday at 7 pm at Blackbaud Stadium in Charleston, SC. The Phoenix, who beat UNCG by a 2-1 score on Wednesday night, got past sixth-seeded Appalachian State, 1-0, on Saturday night. Fourth-seeded Furman, a 3-2 overtime winner over College of Charleston, will take on top-seeded Davidson, a 1-0 winner over Wofford, in Friday’s first semifinal beginning at 4:30 pm. The winners will play for the SoCon Tournament Championship on Sunday at 1 pm. The Southern Conference Tournament champ receives an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament.
On Saturday night, UNCG showed no ill-effects of the Wednesday night loss ? except maybe for some anger taken out on the Eagles. UNCG scored just 3:37 into the match when FitzGerald scored his sixth of the season. Egill Atlason started the play with a cross from the right corner. Patterson deflected the ball slightly in almost a shot fake fashion at the right side post. It was enough to fool the Georgia Southern defense as FitzGerald popped the ball into an open net from the left side for a 1-0 lead.
Patterson, a candidate for the Hermann Award, made it 2-0 at 8:22 on a freak goal. The speedy forward charged Georgia Southern keeper Adam Webb as he was about to play a ball on the ground about 12 yards from the goal line. Patterson, the 2004 Southern Conference Player of the Year and the league’s leading scorer this season, blocked Webb’s clearing attempt and the ball went backwards into the net for his 15th goal of the season. The goal moved Patterson into 12th place all-time on the UNCG scoring list ahead of Darren Powell (105 points).
The Spartans made it 3-0 with 12:15 left before half. After a foul just above the circle, freshman Henning Jonason played the free kick with a perfect hook into the bottom right corner for his fifth goal of the season.
Unlike the first time the two teams met when Georgia Southern put together a rally after a 3-0 UNCG lead, the Spartans didn’t let off the gas in the second half on Saturday. Patterson scored again off a feed from FitzGerald just 10:51 into the second half. The junior from Hackensack, NJ scored his 16th goal of the season and the 46th of his career from 15 yards out on a breakaway into the top left corner of the goal.
The Spartans added two more goals just 20 seconds apart midway through the second half. Matt Mulvena intercepted a clearing attempt and found Scott Jones on the right wing. Jones, a junior from Dallas, TX who is also on the Hermann Award watch list, made a couple of moves and hit a blast into the net for his fourth goal of the season.
Just 20 seconds later, it was FitzGerald’s turn again. Thomas Campbell played a ball to the right side of the goal. Randi Patterson hit the ball back across the goal to where FitzGerald, a junior from Wilmington, NC, was waiting and he knocked it home to complete his six-point night.
UNCG is now 8-1 in SoCon quarterfinal games, having won five straight. Georgia Southern lost in the quarterfinal round for the fourth consecutive year. The six goals scored were the most in a SoCon Tournament match since 2000 when Furman defeated The Citadel, 8-0, in the quarterfinal round. It was the most by a UNCG team in a conference tournament match since 1998.
#3 Elon 1, #6 Appalachian State 0
ELON, NC - Kiki Willis scored 14 seconds into the second period to break a scoreless tie and lead the third-seeded Elon Phoenix to a 1-0 men’s soccer victory over sixth-seeded Appalachian State in the quarterfinals of the 2005 Southern Conference Men’s Soccer Championships on Saturday night in front of 1,050 fans at Rhodes Stadium. The win improved Elon to 9-8-2 on the year and was the first tournament win for the program in its three seasons in the SoCon. The Mountaineers ended their season at 7-10-1.
The Phoenix got the ball to start the second half and quickly moved down the field. Matt Bengston finished his run toward by touching a pass into the box where Willis banged home his 10th goal of the season at 45:14. The freshman’s goal held up to give Elon the win.
“That’s a tremendous win for our program,” stated Elon head coach Darren Powell. “I felt the boys played very well in the second half. It’s good to be catching our form in the postseason.”
In the first half, ASU got off four shots, putting two on frame, to Elon’s two total shots, none of which were on goal. In the second stanza, Elon fired 10 total shots, five on goal, to two total and none on goal for the Mountaineers.
Elon’s Taylor Saxe made two saves while recording his sixth shutout on the year. ASU’s Alec Dufty made four saves, but allowed the one score.
The Phoenix advances to take on second-seeded UNC Greensboro on Friday night at 7:00 p.m. from Blackbaud Stadium in Charleston, S.C.
#4 Furman 3, #5 College of Charleston 2, OT
GREENVILLE, SC - Brian Martin scored two goals, including the game-winner, as Furman defeated Charleston 3-2 in overtime in the first round of the 2005 Southern Conference Men's Soccer Tournament.
"This was a great advertisement for collegiate soccer," said head coach Doug Allison. "Two great teams battled for more than 90 minutes, and the match really could have gone either way. I am excited for our seniors, that the season is extended, and they get to play at least one more game."
Martin scored the game-winning goal at the 99:20 mark for his eighth goal of the season. Kevin Norman played a long ball from the Furman defense. Martin ran onto the ball with a defender on his back. With one touch behind his mark, Martin was in alone with the `keeper. The freshman's shot found the back of the net, and Martin led the charge to the Diamond "F" on the far hill for the victory celebration.
"I saw the ball coming, and I looked at the linesman and made sure that I was onside," said Martin. "I took one touch to get past the defender, and then I just shot the ball as hard as I could and it went in. The team had an agreement that if we ever had an overtime game-winning goal that we would all run over to the big "F." It was awesome because I turned around and all the other guys were already running over to it."
The goal was Martin's third game-winner of the season. The performance marked Martin's second multi-goal match of his career. Martin scored two goals in Furman's 2-1 victory over Cornell at the Wofford/adidas Invitational. For his play at the Wofford tournament, Martin was named Southern Conference Player-of-the-Week on September 27.
Charleston managed to outshoot Furman 21-14. Furman goalkeeper Bryan Amos made eight saves to keep Furman alive in the match. The match was physical, seeing 51 total fouls and seven yellow cards.
Furman had a scoring opportunity in the ninth minute as Shea Salinas dribbled through the Cougar defense. Salinas' shot from 23 yards was just high of the crossbar.
Charleston got on the board at the 11:48 mark on Scott Milroth's second goal of the season. After a Furman handball deep in its own third, Jeremy Gold's perfectly placed cross found Milroth at the far post for a pounded header into the back of the net.
Furman found the equalizer less than a minute later as Brian Martin netted his team-leading seventh goal of the season at the 12:36 mark. Salinas took the ball to the endline and held it as Furman players were running toward the box. Salinas found Martin with a square pass at the penalty spot, and the freshman slotted the ball past a diving Hunter Gilstrap.
Charleston had another scoring opportunity in the 20th minute as Rondell Honora collected a loose ball in the box and fired a shot at Bryan Amos, but the junior goalkeeper was able to make the save without much trouble.
Martin nearly scored his second goal of the match in the 34th minute after his shot from 25 yards out was pushed just wide by a diving Gilstrap.
Furman nearly scored in the 47th minute as Shea Salinas tracked down a ball behind the Charleston defense. The sophomore forward touched the ball past a charging Gilstrap, but the ball was rolling toward the endline, and Salinas' shot hit the side of the net.
Milroth directed another header on goal in the 53rd minute, but Amos was able to make the save.
Furman took the lead at the 56:27 mark on a Dominic Cianciarulo penalty kick, his sixth goal of the season. The sophomore now has converted penalty kicks in two straight matches. Cianciarulo's penalty kick in the 64th minute tied the score against Clemson on Wednesday.
The play was set up as Brian Martin played a through ball behind the defense for Eliot Paschalis. As the sophomore ran onto the ball, he was fouled in the box by Keion Yearwood. Cianciarulo beat Gilstrap to the lower left-hand corner.
Charleston looked to equalize the match in the 88th minute as Miles Alden-Dunn sent a high ball deep in the Furman defense. Matt Morris got behind the last Furman defender, and nearly scored, but his diving header was snared by Amos.
The Cougars tied the score at one goal apiece with less than one minute remaining. Gilstrap sent a long ball from midfield into the Furman penalty area. Milroth got a head on the ball and flicked it to the top of the box. Gold ran onto the ball and drove the ball into the upper corner of the goal.
Furman nearly pulled off an amazing finish, as Brian Martin won the ball in the Charleston defense and had his last-ditch effort beat Gilstrap from 12 yards out with one second remaining on the clock. Martin, however, the official ruled a foul and the match continued to overtime.
Andrew Krysiak looked for the game-winner in the 97th minute, but his shot from 22 yards was tipped over the crossbar by Gilstrap.
With the win, Furman improves to 8-7-4 overall. Charleston ends its season with a 9-8-2 record. Furman continues its season next Friday as the Paladins face Davidson in the second round of the Southern Conference Tournament in Charleston at 4:30 p.m.