Furman 2, #5 Penn State 0
Columbus, Ohio ? Dominic Cianciarulo and Phillip Raby each netted goals and goalkeeper Bryan Amos recorded a shutout as the Furman men’s soccer team upset fifth-ranked Penn State 2-0 in its season opener Friday at The Bert and Iris Wolstein Soccer Classic at Ohio State.
Cianciarulo, a junior from Deland, Fla., opened the scoring for Furman
(1-0) on an assist from senior Kevin Norman with a 17-yard shot past Nittany Lion keeper Taylor Conrad at the 41:09 mark.
After holding a 1-0 halftime lead and both squads entering the locker room having attempted five shots each, Penn State went on the attack in the second half. The Nittany Lions outshot the Paladins 10-2 in the final 45 minutes, but Raby took a Cianciarulo pass and scored from the left side in the 67th minute to up the advantage to 2-0.
Amos withstood a flurry of shots from the defending Big Ten champions in the final 20 minutes, but recorded six saves to notch the clean sheet.
Penn State finished the match with a 15-7 edge in shots while Furman held a 5-3 edge in corner kicks. Conrad recorded just one save for the Nittany Lions (0-1)
The Paladins return to action at the Ohio State Classic on Sunday at 2:30 p.m. when they face the host Buckeyes.
Elon 4, Stetson 3
ELON, N.C. -- Four different players scored for the Elon Phoenix to lift the squad to a 4-3 victory over the visiting Stetson Hatters from Rudd Field on Friday afternoon. The contest was the first of the 2006 season for both squads.
Elon (1-0-0) jumped out on top in the 17th minute when Brett Paschall converted a penalty kick after a Phoenix player was taken down just inside the box. Stetson (0-1-0), one of six 2005 NCAA Tournament teams on Elon’s slate in 2006, roared back to even the score 44 seconds later when Richard Porteous collected a pass from Victor Webb and found the back of the net.
In the 28th minute, Elon’s Douglas Boateng hit a streaking Blake Wertz who beat the Hatter keeper for the second Phoenix score of the afternoon to build a 2-1 advantage the would carry into the second half.
Stetson knotted the score at two in the 49th minute when Porteous found Tanner Wolfe for a score. An unassisted Rudy Mehrens goal gave the Hatters their first lead of the contest in the 57th minute.
The lead was short-lived, however, as Elon freshman Steven Kinney scored his first collegiate goal just over a minute later off a pass from fellow newcomer Stephen Miller. Two freshmen teamed up to provide the game-winning score in the 84th minute. Erfan Imeni’s corner found Justin Wyatt who knocked home the ball for the final goal of the contest.
Both teams got off numerous shots and Elon held a 16-12 advantage in that category. The Phoenix also held the margin in shots on goal, 11-8.
Elon keeper Taylor Saxe corralled five saves while allowing three scores while going the distance. Stetson’s Evan White made seven saves and allowed all four goals in 90 minutes.
“It was a very sloppy game defensively, but an exciting one for the fans” said Elon head coach Darren Powell. “It’s good to go out and get that first win under our belt. We’ll improve on the defensive end as the year goes on. I was excited to see how we pulled together to pull this one out down the stretch.”
The Phoenix returns to the pitch on Sunday afternoon in a 3:15 p.m. contest against Jacksonville from Rudd Field. Stetson will visit UNC Greensboro in a 1:00 p.m. start that same day.
UNCG 4, Jacksonville 2
GREENSBORO, NC ?UNC Greensboro scored three times in the final 11:13 to rally for a 4-2 win over Jacksonville in season opening men’s soccer action at UNCG Soccer Stadium on Friday night.
Michael FitzGerald had two goals and Henning Jonasson and Mike Richardson each had a goal and an assist for the Spartans, who were ranked as high as No. 12 in the pre-season national polls.
For UNCG, which was playing without leading scorer Randi Patterson because of a red card in last year’s NCAA Tournament loss to SMU, it was a great first 15 minutes and a great last 15 minutes. The middle 60 minutes, the Spartans might rather want to forget.
FitzGerald got UNCG on the board quickly when he scored at 4:57. Travis Young fed FitzGerald from the right side of the box into the center.
FitzGerald connected on a blast from 14 yards out for a 1-0 lead.
The Spartans hit the post two more times in the first 15 minutes and looked like they might dominate the night. But Jacksonville, which was seventh in the nation in scoring last year, had other ideas.
Anton Axelsson scored on a header at 36:06 off a beautiful feed from Ramak Nikan Safi to tie the score. It remained tied until 7:09 into the second half when a Dolphin attacker was taken down in the middle of the box and a penalty kick was awarded. Tommy Krizanovic connected on the kick to give Jacksonville a 2-1 advantage.
Jacksonville looked to have all of the momentum as time wound down, but a foul on the Dolphins in the box changed all of that. Richardson was taken down in the box and awarded a penalty kick, which he promptly deposited to tie the score, 2-2.
That seemed to ignite UNCG. Henning Jonasson scored with 5:51 to play after a Richardson corner kick could not be cleared in front. Jonasson put it home on the second try to give UNCG a 3-2 lead.
FitzGerald then added a tally, his second of the night, for insurance with
2:33 to play. Jonasson found FitzGerald, who made a nifty spin move to get open. His initial shot from 15 yards away was knocked down, but he collected the rebound and fired past the fallen keeper for the final 4-2 margin.
UNCG outshot Jacksonville, 24-11, on the night and held a 9-4 advantage in corner kicks.
The Spartans, who are 16-6-1 in season openers all-time under Michael Parker, will take on Stetson on Sunday afternoon at 1 pm at UNCG Soccer Stadium.
College of Charleston 2, Georgia State 1
Atlanta, Ga.,- The College of Charleston Cougars (1-0) scored two first half goals to win their opening match of the season against Georgia State (0-1) 2-1 on Friday night at Silverbacks Park in Atlanta.
Darren Toby scored an unassisted goal in the first minute of action to give the Cougars an early 1-0 advantage. Kareem Yearwood scored the Cougars second goal of the match in the eighteenth minute from a Jeremy Gold assist to give the College of Charleston a lead they would not relinquish. Alberto Villarreal scored the lone goal for Georgia State on a penalty kick in the thirty-ninth minute of the match.
“I’m very happy with our performance today because we won a tough away game to begin the season,” said head coach Ralph Lundy. “Our offense created a lot of scoring chances which we were able to convert on in the first half. I was also happy with our second half defensive effort, allowing Georgia State to have only four shots on goal.”
Charleston registered 29 shots on goal, while Georgia State registered only 13. Corbin Walker notched five saves to register his first win of the season.
The Cougars travel to play against the Charlotte 49ers on August 28 for a 6:30 p.m. match before hosting the Nike/Aaron Olitsky Memorial Tournament from September 1 through September 3 at Patriots Field in Mt. Pleasant.
Wofford 1, Longwood,
SPARTANBURG, S.C. -- Senior Joel Kozak scored the game's only tally as the Wofford men's soccer team began the 2006 campaign with a 1-0 triumph over visiting Longwood Friday at Snyder Field.
Kozak's score, the 10th of his career, came at the 35:51 mark. Freshman Moe Kelli sent a crossing pass to Kozak, who corralled the ball before placing it past Lancer keeper Brandt Youmans from 20 yards out.
The 10 goals in his career now tie him with Michael Gonzales (2000-01; '03) and Charles Cenac (1997-2000) for fourth among Terriers in their Division I history (1995-present). He is just one of six players to reach the double-digit milestone.
Wofford (1-0) played the final 37:17 with a man advantage after a Longwood defender was issued his second yellow card resulting in his removal for the remainder of the contest. Despite being down a man, the Lancers continued on the offensive front and held a 12-7 shot advantage in the second frame.
Rookie Yakov Rubinchik nearly put the Terriers up by a pair when his rifling attempt from 30 yards out just missed with 11 minutes remaining.
Junior goalkeeper Joey Taylor made five saves in playing the full 90 minutes. The shutout is the third of his career, making him the school's all-time Division I era leader.
Youmans registered four stops for Longwood (0-1) in the cage.
Wofford will return to action at 6 p.m. Monday when it hosts No. 24 South Carolina. It will be the final home game for the Terriers until a Sept. 30 meeting with Appalachian State.
#3 Virginia 1, Davidson 0
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. ? A first half Yannick Reyering penalty kick lifted No.
3 Virginia over Davidson 1-0 in both teams men?s soccer opener Friday evening in front of 3,219 at the seventh annual UVA Soccer Classic at Klockner Stadium. The Cavaliers begin the year 1-0-0 with the victory, while the Wildcats? open 0-1-0.
The lone strike and difference-maker came in the 22nd minute as a result of a Davidson foul committed in the box, which awarded the Cavaliers a penalty kick. Reyering?s free chance slid just by the outstretched arms of the Wildcats? keeper Ben Ashton to give Virginia the game?s only goal.
?No regrets, I thought we played extremely hard,? commented Davidson head coach Matt Spear. ?It?s unfortunate the game was decided by a penalty kick.
In the run of play we had our chances.?
The Wildcats best opportunity to even the match came five minutes into the second frame when Marco Antunez fed a thru ball to fellow forward Tom Lavan, who had his one-on-one shot attempt blocked by UVA?s goalkeeper Ryan Burke.
?Marco made a great penetrating pass, Tom struck it hard and low, and their keeper made a game-saving play.?
Freshman Liam Bracken provided the ?Cats with another great to chance equalize in the 69th minute when his header off a Robby Hoak free kick sailed just over the goal from point blank range.
The Cavs finished the contest with a 10-5 edge in shot attempts.Ashton recorded three saves in net for the Wildcats, while Virginia?s Burke turned away a pair of his own.
?I thought Ben Ashton played very composed and was terrific in goal for us tonight,? said Spear. ?It?s a dream come true for him to play here in his home state, and unfortunate that the only goal scored was by way of a PK.?
Davidson will conclude its appearance at the UVA Soccer Classic with a 12 p.m. kickoff against No. 7/9 Akron on Sunday at Klockner Stadium. The Cavaliers will play No. 22 UC Santa Barbara at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 27 to wrap up the event.
?We had the opportunity to play 17 players in what I think is the toughest Division I men?s soccer environment in the nation. A game like tonight will make us better, we?ll learn from this experience and feed off it heading into the Sunday?s match with Akron.?