Wofford 3, Lipscomb 0
SPARTANBURG, S.C. - In its 2005 home debut, the Wofford men's soccer team blanked visiting Lipscomb, 3-0, Friday night at Snyder Field in Spartanburg, S.C. The Terriers tallied a pair of goals in the first half before adding their final score late in the second half.
Senior Carter Ladd, who missed much of 2004 with an injury, returned to form tonight as he scored his first goal since the 2003 campaign with Wofford's first tally at 28:23 on an assist from Joel Kozak.
Just under 40 seconds later, fellow senior Jesus Arroyo-Peco found the back of the net behind Bison goalkeeper J.D. Murphy on a Callum Easter assist at the 29:02 mark. Easter, a freshman from Dunbar, Scotland, made his Terrier debut in the contest tonight.
Wofford (1-0-1) entered the lockerrooms at the half holding a 9-4 edge on shots.
The Terriers continued the put pressure on the Lipscomb (1-1-1) cage in the second half but only found the back of the net once. Sophomore Reed Blair dribbled down the right-hand side and crossed it to Arroyo-Peco, who flicked it back to a streaking Brandon Lowery directly in front of the goal for the game's final tally at the 81:17 mark.
The Bison managed to close the gap in shots in the second half; however, most of their attempts were from 25-to-30 yards out and were not on goal.
It marked the second-straight contest in which Arroyo-Peco posted a goal and assist, while Lowery's goal was his second in as many games this season.
Sophomore Joey Taylor registered seven saves for his first shutout of the season. Murphy collected three saves in goal for Lipscomb.
# 22 Davidson 2, Navy 1
Matt Allen’s golden goal with one second remaining in the first overtime lifted No. 22 Davidson over Navy 2-1 in the opening round of the COCA-COLA/adidas Kickoff Classic Friday afternoon at UMBC Stadium.
Allen, a senior from Crofton, Md., netted a loose ball in the box off a Wildcat corner kick to give Davidson its third consecutive win to begin the 2005 campaign. The game-winner was the forward’s second in as many contests.
“This is a tremendous moment for Matt to score the game-winner in front of friends and family,” said Davidson head coach Matt Spear. “Even though a couple opportunities didn’t go for him in the early goings of the match, he showed his senior leadership when we needed it most.”
Scoreless 81 minutes into the game, Navy’s (2-1) McKenzie Plank gave the Midshipmen a 1-0 advantage with 8:23 remaining in regulation. J.P. Murphy assisted on Plank’s first score of the season.
Davidson (3-0) tied the match in the 86th minute when Tom Lavan found the net for his first goal of the year. Lavan gathered a free ball in the box that was deflected off an Aaron West long throw.
“I’m very pleased with the composure and maturity we showed as a team late in the game,” said Spear. “We demonstrated for the second time this season we can come from behind and close things out.”
The last time the Wildcats began the season 3-0 was during the 1980 season, when Davidson reeled off six straight to open the campaign.
This afternoon’s contest was played on a field that’s surface and dimensions were new to the Wildcats. UMBC Stadium is a field turf facility that is narrower than the normal NCAA Men’s Soccer venue.
“Today’s win was a tough fought victory against a new team, on a new surface, and very challenging surroundings,” commented Spear.
The win was the 50th of Coach Spear’s career. He currently ranks third on Davidson’s all-time wins list with an overall mark of 50-30-7.
Ben Ashton recorded three saves for the ?Cats, while Navy’s Aric McElheny finished the day with eight. The Wildcats held a 16-7 shots advantage over the Midshipmen.
Davidson returns to action Sunday, Sept. 11 when it plays UMBC at 2:30 p.m. in the final round of the COCA-COLA/adidas Kickoff Classic.
“We have to learn from today’s match and quickly move on. UMBC is playing at home, in its tournament, which means we’ll have to come to play Sunday,” said Spear.
Georgia Southern 1, North Florida 1
STATESBORO, Ga.- Georgia Southern and North Florida battled to a 1-1 tie Friday evening in the Eagles’ inaugural match at the new Eagle Field. The Eagles are now 1-1-1, while the Ospreys are 0-2-1.
After a scoreless first half that saw only five shots on goal, North Florida scored at the 59:12 mark, as Martin Pettersson tallied his first goal of the year, kicking the ball into the right corner of the net, slipping it past GSU keeper William Alexander. Georgia Southern’s Justin Elie notched his second goal of the season as hit shot off a cross from Jeff Cox, sending the ball into the upper left hand corner of the goal and over UNF keeper Michael Frost’s head. The Eagles had opportunities to score again, with 10 shots in the half, but could not connect, sending the match into overtime.
Georgia Southern’s best chance to win came with less than five minutes remaining in the second overtime, as Lawrence Smith had two shots on goal. The Eagles had four shots in the two overtime periods, compared to North Florida’s three. The Ospreys did not record a shot on goal in the overtime periods.
In his first collegiate start, Alexander recorded four saves, while UNF’s Frost tallied 10. Georgia Southern recorded 21 shots in the match. North Florida tallied nine.
#2 Duke 3, College of Charleston 2, OT
Spencer Wadsworth gave #2 Duke their third straight victory to start the season with a goal in overtime to edge the College of Charleston men's soccer team, 3-2, on the first day of the Duke/adidas Classic at Koskinen Stadium in Durham, N.C., on Friday night.
Wadsworth beat the Cougars’ goalkeeper, Corbin Waller, to a loose ball in front of the net in the fifth minute of the first overtime for his second goal of the season. Michael Videira and Danny Kramer set up Wadsworth for the game-winner to earn assists.
Duke took a 2-0 lead into halftime off goals by Michael Videira and Chris Loftus. Videira, the reigning Soccer America Freshman of the Year, pounded home his first goal of the season in the 12th minute to give the Blue Devils the early lead. Duke has scored first in all three of their games this season. With just under three minutes left in the half, Chris Loftus scored his team-high third goal of the season with a blast into the top of the net from 30 yards out. He has scored in each of the three games to date.
In the second half, Charleston stormed back to cut the lead in half in the 64th minute when Jeremy Gold received a cross from Darren Toby and beat the Blue Devils’ keeper Justin Papadakis from eight yards out. With just under 15 minutes to play in regulation, Gold sent a cross in to Matt Morris for a header that found the back of the net, tying the game at 2-2, and eventually forcing overtime. Duke put the pressure on in the final 15 minutes with several scoring chances. They had a chance to regain the lead in the 78th minute when Videira’s shot was stopped by Waller and Kramer had a wide open net, but Kramer’s shot went just wide of the left post. In the 82nd minute, Blake Camp had a free shot at the goal after a foal, but Waller came up with another save. Three minutes later Loftus had an open look, but his shot was just high.
Justin Papadakis earned his third win of the season with one save in 94:40 minutes of play. Waller replaced Hunter Gilstrap, who gave up the two goals in the first half, and finished the game with three saves to fall to 1-1 on the season. The College of Charleston is now 2-2 overall.
In the first game of the tournament, N.C. State won a thriller over St. John’s. With just five seconds left on the clock, Matthew Lytle scored his first goal of the season to give the Wolfpack an upset victory over the seventh ranked Red Storm. St. John’s scored the first goal of the game in the 20th minute when Ben Shuleva drove down the field and sent the ball in for an unassisted goal. N.C. State tied the game with just over six minutes left in the game on a shot by Aaron King right in front of the left post. Aaron Sanders earned the victory in net with two saves. Jason Landers made eight saves in a losing effort.
Mercer 3, Furman 2
Greenville, SC - Vicente Arze scored two goals, including the game-winner as Mercer downed Furman 3-2 in the first round of the Diadora/Spinx Furman Invitational. Arze netted his second goal, unassisted from 18 yards out, at the 78:29 mark.
Furman had the first scoring chance in the first minute as play as Shea Salinas took a Rhett Abraham through ball into the box. Mercer keeper Aldo Balsano made a kick save on Salinas' first shot, and was able to touch his rebound shot across the end line.
In the 22nd minute, Vicente Arze ran through the Furman penalty area and fired a shot to the near post. Furman goalkeeper Bryan Amos made the save and collected the rebound preventing the Mercer goal.
Mercer opened the scoring at the 28:37 mark as Arze's shot to the far post from 16 yards out beat Amos.
Furman threatened again in the 32nd minute as Salinas beat two defenders and played a ball to Eliot Paschalis at the penalty spot. The England-native's shot deflected off the far post.
Furman had another golden opportunity in the 40th minute as Robert Hunter found Chris Davis deep inside the Mercer penalty box. A charging Balsano altered the chance before a Mercer defender cleared the ball.
Mercer added a second first-half goal as Del Olaoye fed Cliff Wilson with a through ball from mid-field in the 42nd minute. Wilson held off Furman's Josh Villalobos long enough to squeeze a shot past a charging Bryan Amos.
Furman again had a chance to cut into the Mercer lead when a Chris Davis cross was left for an oncoming Robert Hunter. Hunter's shot from six yards out banged off the crossbar and was headed clear.
Furman got on the board at the 47:12 mark as Paschalis netted his first goal of the season. Kevin Norman crossed a ball to the far post where Brian Martin headed it back across the mouth of the goal. Paschalis knocked the ball into the back of the net from five yards out.
The Paladins threatened again two minutes later when Salinas sent a cross into the penalty area. The pass sailed toward the goal, forcing Balsano to push the ball over the crossbar.
Furman evened the score at the 51:41 mark on Martin's first collegiate goal. Salinas played a quick throw-in to a streaking Martin. The freshman's toe-poke to the near post beat Balsano from 10 yards out.
Salinas nearly scored again after a series of headers in the 64th minute. Josh Villalobos played a cross into the box that was headed by David Prentice to Martin who flicked the ball to Salinas whose header was saved by Balsano.
Olaoye got behind the defense in the 72nd minute, but was caught from behind by Norman who tackled the ball away at the penalty spot.
Mercer took the lead with an unassisted goal in the 79th minute as Arze turned on a defender and buried his shot from the top of the box to the far post for his second goal of the match.
Furman appeared to have netted the equalize at the 84:25 mark as Martin's sliding shot beat Balsano to the far post, however Martin was ruled offside.
With the win, Mercer improves to 1-2 overall this season. Furman suffers its first loss of the season, and falls to 0-1-3 overall.
#24 UNC Greensboro 1, Brown 0
Providence, RI - Despite a 9-4 edge in shots on goal, the Brown men's soccer team fell to #24 UNC-Greensboro, 1-0, in the opening round of the 2005 adidas-Brown Classic. The Bears had several scoring opportunities throughout the game but could not break the Spartans keeper. A costly mistake inside the box by Brown with 12 minutes left in the game secured the 1-0 victory for UNCG. The Bears fall to 1-2 on the season while the Spartans improve to 2-1.
The Bears dominated play in the first half, feeding off the energy from the near sell-out crowd. Brown's first chance at a goal came in the 36th minute of play when a quick throw in caught UNCG off guard. Junior Andrew Daniels took possession from about 40 yards out and dribbled down the line, serving in a cross to a wide-open Ian Premo '07 on the far post. Premo's shot came inches from clearing the post, which would have been a sure goal for the Bears.
Premo struck again just three minutes later when his corner kick curled in towards the net but UNCG keeper Jay Benfield was able to punch it out just in time. The Spartans didn't go without their chances as well but junior keeper David Semenza's aggressiveness spared Brown.
The Bears continued to attack in the opening minutes of the second half. Premo's free kick to Daniels, who one-timed it, was blocked by a defender near the goal line in the 34th minute. Other highlights included a great diving save by Benfield in the 31st minute, robbing sophomore Kevin Davies of his third goal of the season.
As the game got more and more physical, the Brown attack continued but Benfield never let up. A ball that should have been cleared by the Bears' defense ended up being the defining moment in the game as UNCG junior Randi Patterson took advantage after being left unmarked in the box. Leaving Semenza no chance at a save, Patterson booted in a rocket to the upper corner of the net.
Brown's offense went into full gear in the closing minutes as it tried desperately for the tying goal, but each shot was meant with frustration as several sailed just wide of the net.
Semenza posted four saves in the loss while Benfield collected nine in the shutout.