UNC Greensboro 2, College of Charleston 1
Michael FitzGerald's goal with 6:32 left in the second overtime lifted UNC Greensboro to a hard-fought 2-1 win over the College of Charleston in men's Southern Conference soccer action before 521 at Patriots Point Field on Wednesday.
With the win, UNCG improved to 9-5-1 overall and 4-0-1 in league play. The Cougars, who host Elon at 2:00 on Saturday, fell to 8-6-1 and 3-1-0.
FitzGerald staked UNCG to a 1-0 lead at intermission with his first score of the night at the 17:23 mark off an assist from Mike Richardson.
Charleston evened the match at the 1-1 with an unassisted goal by David Levine with just 15:02 left in regulation. Levine made a brilliant run forward from more than 30 yards away from the penalty box and shot the ball through two defenders to net to goal.
FitzGerald's game-winner came on one of the Spartans' three shots in the second overtime period.
Junior goalie Corbin Waller had seven saves for the Cougars, while Nate Berry recorded 11 for the Spartans.
Furman 3, Appalachian State 1
Greenville, S.C. - Three Paladins notched their first goal of the season to lead the Furman men's soccer team to a 3-1 victory over Appalachian State in Southern Conference play Wednesday night at Stone Soccer Stadium.
In a physical duel that included 38 total fouls, six yellow cards and two red cards, Furman raced out to a 2-0 lead in the opening 25 minutes on its way to its second SoCon victory.
Patrick Murray began the scoring in the 17th minute on an assist from Chris Davis. Murray volleyed in a bouncing cross from seven yards out for his first goal as a Paladin.
Sophomore Andrew Krysiak doubled the lead at the 24:42 mark. Dominic Cianciarulo fed a pass to Shea Salinas in the box who played the ball to Krysiak at the top of the six yard box. The forward turned a fired a shot into the righthand corner for his first goal of 2006.
Appalachian State drew within a goal at the 40:43 mark of the first half. A collision at the top of the 18-yard box led to a Mountaineer penalty kick and Barat Killian deposited the attempt into the top netting to put Appalachian on the board.
Salinas capped the scoring in the 58th minute to give Furman a 3-1 lead. The midfielder turned the corner on the left side of the box to beat his defender and was taken down from behind. The junior converted his shot from the penalty spot for his first goal of the season.
The physical nature of the match continued to increase as Appalachian pressed for a goal in the final minutes. The Mountaineers were reduced to ten men at 80:55 when Paul Pessina was issued his second caution of the night. In the closing seconds of the match, Furman's David Prentice missed high on a sliding shot at the goal mouth and Appalachian State goalkeeper Greg Walters was sent off after kicking Prentice.
Furman finished the battle with an 11-9 edge in shots. Corner kicks were equal at four for each team. Bryan Amos recorded two saves to earn the victory in goal for the Paladins while Walters stopped four shots for Appalachian.
The win improves Furman to 7-5-1 overall and 2-1-1 in SoCon play. Appalachian State falls to 7-5-1 overall and 2-2-1 in the conference.
The Paladins travel to Spartanburg, S.C., to face Wofford at 6:00 p.m. Saturday. Appalachian returns home to host Davidson at 2 p.m. on Sunday.
Duke 3, Davidson 1
DURHAM, N.C. ? Zach Pope contributed a goal and set up another to lead the No. 4 Duke Blue Devils to a 3-1 victory over in-state foe Davidson in men’s soccer action Wednesday evening at Koskinen Stadium. Duke improves to 9-2-1 with the win while the Wildcats fall to 5-10-0 overall.
“Duke is a very good team and I give them a lot of credit," said Davidson head coach Matt Spear. "But I’m disappointed in the three goals we gave up. I thought each of the goals were pretty weak efforts by our defense."
The Blue Devils wasted little time getting on the board and grabbing an early 1-0 lead thanks to Graham Dugoni’s header off a Pope corner kick just 7:21 into the match.
Duke tacked on another goal in the 25th minute as a result of a Davidson foul inside the box, which awarded the Blue Devils their first penalty kick of the campaign. Chris Loftus attempted the freebie and found the back of the net for his second score of the season that gave the nationally-ranked club a 2-0 advantage.
Despite heading to the locker room down two goals at the break, Davidson had its chances in the opening period getting off eight shots, four of which were on frame but turned away by Duke goalkeeper Justin Papadakis.
“There was about a ten minute stretch in the first half where we had some super chances. For us to beat a team like Duke, we have to be able to put away those opportunities."
In the 63rd minute, Davidson’s Aaron West cut the Blue Devils’ lead in half with his second strike of the year. The Chapel Hill, N.C., native tracked down a ball on the left side of the field and ripped a low blast from 15 yards out that found the bottom right corner of the net.
Pope, who assisted on the game’s first goal, added a score of his own late in the final stanza to push the Blue Devils’ lead back to two. The 5-7 junior midfielder got his head on a ball from five yards out off a Michael Videira free kick to put the game out of reach. The 76th minute score was Pope’s first of the year to go along with his team-leading seven assists.
Tonight’s contest against Duke was the fifth match for the Wildcats this season against a Top 10 opponent.
Duke held a commanding 26-11 difference in shots. Papadakis finished with four saves in net for the Blue Devils, while Davidson’s Ben Ashton stopped a career-high nine attempts.
Davidson will finally conclude its five-game road trip in a 2 p.m. match at Southern Conference foe Appalachian State on Sunday. Duke will also return to action Oct. 15 when it battles North Carolina State in Raleigh, N.C., at 2 p.m.
"If we stick together, stay focused and believe in our abilities, there is an awful lot of hope left for us this season.”
Virginia Tech 5, Elon 1
BLACKSBURG, Va. - A pair of goals from both Patrick Nyarko and Marcus Reed led the Virginia Tech men's soccer team over Elon, 5-1, Wednesday night in a non-conference matchup at the Tech Soccer Stadium. Ben Nason added a score of his own in the 90th minute.
Reed scored the first goal of the game in the 19th minute on a pass from Nyarko, who drove the left wing to the endline before sending in a sharp cross. Reed chested it past Elon goalkeeper Taylor Saxe for his fourth goal of the season.
Nyarko responded with a goal of his own in the 32nd minute when he one-timed a cross from Charlie Campbell for his ninth of the season, and the Hokies led at the half, 2-0.
Elon got back in the game early in the second stanza, when Kiki Willis headed home his team-leading sixth goal of the year off a deflection of a Matt Bengston cross in the 51st minute. It was the first time Elon had ever scored against the Hokies in five meetings dating back to 1990. That was as close as the Phoenix (8-6-2) would get, however, as Tech (8-4-1) would go on to score three more times to seal the match.
Nyarko added his team-leading 10th goal in the 58th minute when he took a Craig Brutus pass and weaved through a trio of Elon defenders to make it 3-1.
Reed then recorded his second of the game in the 75th minute, beating an oncoming Saxe after receiving a long pass from Charlie Howe, who had two assists on the night.
Nason put the icing on the cake in the 90th minute, scoring after another touchdown pass from Howe that was touched along via Scott Dillie.
Junior Drew Czekanski made four saves to earn his fourth win. Saxe collected seven saves on the night.
Elon will finish off the regular season with three home dates. The first of those three matches comes at 6:00 p.m. on Saturday, October 14 when College of Charleston visits Rudd Field.