Virginia Tech 1, Appalachian State 0
BLACKSBURG, Va. ? Appalachian State University men’s soccer played toe-to-toe with No. 25 Virginia Tech for nearly the entire match, but a Hokie goal in the 82nd minute proved to be enough for Tech to claim a 1-0 victory on its home pitch Tuesday evening.
The Mountaineers outshot Tech, 7-4, in the opening half but the Hokies turned the tables in the second stanza and held a narrow, 11-10, advantage in shots for the match. Five of ASU’s 10 shots were on goal in the loss. Appalachian was led by junior Sean Sassano’s (Gastonia, N.C.) match-high four shots with six other players, including Southern Conference Player of the Week Arie Muniz (Spring, Texas), recording one shot each.
The game-winning goal came off the foot of Alexander Baden in the 82nd minute when he collected the pass from Ben Nason and fought past ASU’s back row to score the match’s lone tally. Drew Czekanski stopped all five shots he faced in goal to preserve the clean sheet.
“This was a very cruel result for our team,” said head coach Paul Stahlschmidt. “I’m very proud of our effort and hard work against a good team. We played hard enough to deserve more than a loss in this match.”
The loss drops ASU to 9-6-2 overall while the Hokies improve to 11-5-1 on the season.
The Mountaineers will now have four days off to prepare for their upcoming SoCon Tournament match at the College of Charleston on Sunday at 3:30 p.m.
Akron 4, UNC Greensboro 0
AKRON, OH ? Steve Kalan had a hat trick in the first half, including a pair of goals in the first 8:05 as Akron defeated UNC Greensboro, 4-0, in men’s soccer action Tuesday night.
The game was a match-up of No. 1 teams from the last two seasons. The Zips
(11-4-1) were the final remaining unbeaten team last year and spent most of the year as an unlikely No. 1 team atop the national polls, much the way UNCG was in 2004.
But Kalan’s first half stole the show. The junior entered the contest with two goals this season, but doubled that in the first eight minutes of the match, which was Akron’s senior night. He scored just 1:19 in to the match off a corner kick feed by Jonathan McClain to make it a 1-0 advantage.
Kalan scored again, however, just 6:44 later. Pablo Moreira played a ball from 20 yards out. Kalan was able to get a foot on it and tuck it just inside the far post for a 2-0 lead.
Kalan completed his hat trick at 39:21 and gave the Zips a commanding 3-0 advantage. Kalan weaved through the Spartan defense and beat keeper Nate Berry for the goal.
Akron scored once more before halftime and Ben Zemanski scored on a header with 2:02 remaining before halftime.
With a forecast that included a 40 percent chance of snow, the weather was as cold as the Spartan offense. At game time, the temperature was 41 degrees with a 33 degree wind chill and that continued to drop through the game. UNCG, which sat down several starters during the second half, managed just six shots to Akron’s 11. Evan Bush recorded his ninth shutout of the season for Akron and his 23rd in the last two seasons.
UNCG (11-7-1), which has already clinched the Southern Conference regular season title and the No. 1 seed in the Southern Conference Tournament, was playing without two starters due to red card suspensions. Both Henning Jonasson and Michael FitzGerald are eligible to return to the line-up when UNCG returns to action on Saturday night in the SoCon Tournament’s first round against Wofford. That game is slated for 7 pm at UNCG Soccer Stadium.
Jacksonville 3, Georgia Southern 1
JACKSONVILLE, Ga. ? Daniel Smith’s goal in the 37th minute wasn’t enough to close the Eagles’ regular season with a win, Tuesday, as Jacksonville defeated the Georgia Southern men’s soccer team, 3-1.
Daniel Smith’s (Marietta, Ga.) goal, his second on the season, put the Eagles (8-5-3) up on the scoreboard first.
Jacksonville (6-10-1) responded only a few moments later with a winner in the top left corner of the cage, courtesy of the Dolphins’ Greg Roytman.
Both teams remained tied at the end of the first half, both tallying a goal and seven shots, apiece. But the second half belonged to Dolphins.
Just moments after substituting back into the game, Jacksonville’s Sebastian Lindholm found an opening in the Eagles’ defense in the 60th minute, firing a shot that reached the top left corner of the goal. The game-winning goal lifted the Dolphins to a 2-1 margin.
Despite leading the second half in shots (12) and corner kicks (4), the Eagles fell victim to some errors in the backfield that cost them two more goals.
Jacksonville’s Tommy Krizanovic added an insurance goal in the 82nd minute to seal the Dolphins’ final regular season victory.
“I thought we did well in terms of creating opportunities, but we just weren’t able to put away the chances that we created,” explained first-year head coach Kevin Kennedy, who will appear in his first Southern Conference post-season game, Saturday versus Davidson. “With the exception of a couple miscues in the back, our team defending was good. I give credit to Jacksonville for taking advantage of those mistakes.”
Notwithstanding the non-conference loss, the Eagles look forward to post-season play at home. It has been three weeks ? and four road trips ? since the Eagles hosted a match.
“We’re definitely excited to be playing at home again, after being on the road for four straight games,” said Kennedy.
Georgia Southern, ranked No. 2 in the conference standings, will entertain Davidson, Saturday, Oct. 28 for the first round of the Southern Conference tournament. The game is slated for 3 p.m.