#1 UNC Greensboro 2, #8 Wofford 0
GREENSBORO, NC - Randi Patterson scored twice off feeds from D.J. McCurry and Nate Berry earned his fifth shutout of the season as top-seeded UNC Greensboro advanced in the Southern Conference Men’s Soccer Tournament with a 2-0 win over Wofford on Saturday night at UNCG Soccer Stadium.
Patterson, a senior from Hackensack, NJ, scored his ninth and 10th goals of the season and moved into seventh place on the school’s career scoring list. He now has 135 career points, passing Eddie Radwanski. With 58 career goals now, Patterson is alone in the fifth place on the UNCG career goal-scoring list.
UNCG took a 1-0 lead just 2:32 into the contest. McCurry, a sophomore from Gastonia, NC, played a long ball up the right sideline from near midfield. Patterson controlled it and dribbled ahead before the defense to get an angle on him. He then hit a shot from 15 yards out past the charging keeper for the early lead.
The score stayed that way until early in the second half. At 51:06, McCurry played a ball from the right sideline about 35 yards out. The pass appeared to be intended for Thomas Campbell, but Campbell got his feet tangled and the ball skipped clear through to Patterson on the doorstep. He then chested the ball into the net for his 10th tally of the year and a 2-0 lead.
UNCG is 13-0-0 all-time against Wofford. The Spartans won a first round match for the ninth time in 10 years of SoCon Tournament action and are now 16-7-0 all-time in SoCon Tournament play. Wofford is winless in nine SoCon Tournament games, falling to 0-9-0.
UNCG will face the winner of Sunday’s match between fourth-seeded College of Charleston and fifth-seeded Appalachian State in next Friday’s semifinal round. The semifinal match, to be played at Furman University in Greenville, SC, will get underway at 4:30 pm. The other semifinal match, slated for approximately 7 pm, will pit No. 3-seeded Furman, a 2-0 winner over Elon, against No. 2 Georgia Southern, a 2-1 winner over Davidson on Saturday afternoon.
#2 Georgia Southern 2, #7 Davidson 1
STATESBORO, Ga. ? The No. 2 seed Georgia Southern men’s soccer team advanced to the Southern Conference semifinal round, Saturday, after a 2-1 victory over No. 7 seed Davidson at Eagle Field.
Red-shirt freshman Jon Cox (Alpharetta, Ga.), who was recently honored as Southern Conference ?Freshman of the Year’, put the Eagles in the lead 33 minutes in to the match. Teammate Jason Tindall (Roswell, Ga.) found Cox open in the front of the box. Cox unloaded a blast from 18 yards out to put the Eagles up 1-0 over the Wildcats. It was Cox’s sixth goal of the season.
Playing in front of the home crowd, and riding a six-game unbeaten streak on Eagle Field, the GSU offense continued to pressure the Wildcats.
Just 10 minutes later Jason Tindall’s pass to a streaking Calvin Simon led to a 2-0 Eagles’ margin. Senior Calvin Simon (Wilmington, N.C.) worked his way inside the box and curved a shot over the Davidson keeper that ended up in the left corner pocket. It was Simon’s second goal and first game-winner of his senior year. Tindall’s two-assist performance was his second and third of the year.
Though the Eagles went into halftime with the momentum going their way, claiming a 6-4 shot advantage and a solid 2-0 lead, Davidson made some changes in the locker room and came out strong in the second half.
“I though the first half we were exceptional,” said head coach Kevin Kennedy, who recently received SoCon ?Coach of the Year’ honors. “Davidson certainly outplayed us in the second half. We knew they were going to come after us at halftime. We were just hoping to weather the storm and not give up a goal in the first 10?15 minutes.”
The Wildcats unleashed a storm of eight second-half shots that challenged the Eagles’ consistently solid defensive line.
Davidson maintained possession most of the second half, and the momentum finally broke the Georgia Southern defense in the 64th minute. About 20 yards out, Davidson’s Cass Baltz crossed a pass from the middle to an open Charlie Reiter streaking on the left side. Reiter opened up and fired a shot that curved past keeper Adam Webb and ended up in the upper left shelf.
The Eagles worked to change the momentum back their way and had the best opportunity in the 74th minute when a pass from Jon Cox to the left side resulted in a 2-on-1 play. Davidson’s Robby Goldsberry foiled GSU’s attack and prevented the goal that would seal the game.
“Momentum is such a funny thing,” said Kennedy. “I really felt like we had a lot of momentum in the first half. It’s tough to control momentum. We were really hoping to get one of those counter opportunities, but we just didn’t have that finishing touch in the second half.”
Though the offense couldn’t find its third goal on the day, senior keeper Adam Webb (Melbourne, Fla.) made a vital save just three minutes later when Davidson’s Aaron West blasted a bullet from within the 18. Webb made three saves on the afternoon, improving his record in the cage to 5-3-3 with the win.
The Eagles prevented a second-half, Wildcats’ comeback, and Georgia Southern emerged victor, advancing to the semifinals for the first time since 2001. Only twice has Georgia Southern played in the SoCon finals, the last occurring in 1996.
With the win, the Eagles are set to play No. 3 seed Furman, as the Paladins blanked Elon, 2-0 this afternoon in the first-round competition. The semifinal match will be played at Greenville, Friday, Nov. 3 at 7 p.m.
“We’re excited,” said Kennedy. “One of our goals was to put ourselves in a position to be in the final four. Anything after Friday is just icing on the cake. We’re just happy to be there... Overall, I was pleased with the way we played. Everyone understands that we need to put together a complete game on Friday.”
#3 Furman 2, #6 Elon 0
Greenville, S.C. -- Shea Salinas and Chris Davis netted goals to lead Furman to a 2-0 victory over Elon in the opening round of the Southern Conference Men’s Soccer Championships Saturday night at Stone Soccer Stadium.
Salinas beat Elon goalkeeper Taylor Saxe with a driving header off of a Patrick Murray free kick at the 4:01 mark to give Furman a quick 1-0 lead.
Murray served the cross in from the left side and found Salinas five yards from net for the eventual game-winning tally.
Murray and Salinas teamed to set up Davis in the 69th minute to double the Paladin lead. Murray sent a through ball down the left side to Salinas who delivered a square ball to the top of the six-yard box. Davis tapped the shot into the open net for his fifth goal of the season at 68:45.
Furman held a 12-6 edge in shot attempts with each side collecting only three shots on goal. Elon took a 6-2 advantage in corner kicks.
The win avenged Furman’s 2-1 regular season loss at Elon on September 20.
The Phoenix, who finish the season at 10-8-2, missed on their best opportunity to score with just over 12 minutes remaining when Justin Wyatt’s diving header was touched clear by goalkeeper Bryan Amos.
Saxe finished the match with one save for Elon while Amos stopped three shots for the Paladins.
Furman, who improves to 11-6-1 on the season, will host Georgia Southern in the second SoCon Semifinal match Friday at 7 p.m. at Stone Soccer Stadium. The Eagles downed Davidson 2-1 to advance to the semifinals.
The winner of tonight’s UNC Greensboro/Wofford match will face the winner of Sunday afternoon’s Appalachian State/College of Charleston tilt in Friday’s first semifinal at 4:30 p.m.