Elon 1, Belmont 0
GREENSBORO , NC -- Elon University scored in the 62nd minute of the contest and improved to 5-1 with a 1-0 win over Belmont in the opening game of the UNCG Men’s Soccer Classic.
After a scoreless first half, Elon's Justin Wyatt broke the tie and put the Phoenix on the board. Alex Barake sent a soft serve into the box, which Wyatt headed into the back of the net from 12 yards out. It was Wyatt’s third goal of the season.
The Bruins had a tough time getting the equalizer. Elon held Belmont to just one shot the entire second half and the Phoenix finished with a 15-6 overall shot advantage. Kyle Boerner recorded three saves for Elon and Kyle Roelke had nine saves for Belmont.
Elon will face UAB on Sunday at 1 pm.
Furman 1, Gardner-Webb 0
Greenville, SC ? Eliot Paschalis scored the game-winner at the 80:36 mark, and Bryan Amos recorded his second shutout of the season as Furman defeated Gardner-Webb 1-0 at the Diadora/Spinx Furman Invitational on Friday night.
Furman broke through in the 81st minute as Dominic Cianciarulo and Shea Salinas executed a perfect one-two pass deep in the attacking third.
Salinas put a low cross through the box that was dummied by Eric Baffour and found Eliot Paschalis at the penalty spot. Paschalis placed his first touch to the right corner of the goal for his first goal of the season.
Furman held a 14-6 advantage in total shots, while corner kicks were tied at three apiece.
An uneventful first half saw Furman earn a 6-3 lead in total shots. The Paladins placed five shots on frame to force Gardner-Webb goalkeeper Tyler Kettering into five first-half saves.
Salinas and Rob Victor supplied the most pressure for Furman, each connecting on two shots on goal for the Paladins.
At the 60th minute, Chris Salvagione found himself behind the Furman defense and alone with Furman ?keeper Bryan Amos. Salvagione looked to have an open view of the goal, but a charging Amos cut the angle and pushed the shot wide of the target.
Richard Godfrey made a run down the left flank in the 65th minute and played a ball into the middle of the penalty area. Carlton Hughes ran onto the ball and drove a hard shot just wide of frame.
In the 72nd minute, Patrick Murray won the ball in the middle of the field and dribbled through the defense. He played a through ball to Robert Hunter at the top of the box, but Hunter’s shot from 15 yards out was parried by placeCityKettering.
In the first game of the weekend tournament, Coastal Carolina raced out to a 3-0 halftime lead over Stetson on the strength of a Kevin Van Den Berg goal and assist. Stetson narrowed the margin to 3-2 on two Tanner Wolfe second half goals, but Coastal Carolina held on to claim the 5-3 victory.
Van Den Berg finished the match with two goals and an assist.
The Diadora/Spinx Furman Invitational continues on Sunday as Coastal Carolina faces Gardner-Webb at 11:30 a.m. and Furman takes on Stetson at 2 p.m.
Davidson 2, James Madison 1
CHARLOTTE, N.C. Behind Machel Turner’s first career score and an own goal the Davidson Wildcats came from behind to defeat James Madison 2-1 in men’s soccer action and the opening game of the Charlotte JAKO Invitational Friday evening at Transamerica Field. The win was the second straight for the ?Cats as they improve to 2-3-0, while JMU drops its first match of the 2006 season to fall to 2-1-0.
“I’m really happy for our guys,” commented Wildcat head coach Matt Spear. “They matured a lot today against a very talented and experienced James Madison squad.”
With a scoreless game at the end of the first period, James Madison went ahead just 1:22 into the second stanza on Kurt Morsink’s fourth goal of the campaign. The 47th minute score came off a free kick from just outside the 18 as a result of a Davidson foul.
The Wildcats had a number of opportunities to tie the score shortly after JMU grabbed the game’s advantage. Their first great chance was in the 60th minute when Cass Baltz played a ball into the box from the right side to Tom Lavan leaving him a one-on-one opportunity with JMU’s Kevin Trapp. The Omaha, Neb., native tried to chip the keeper, but Trapp denied Lavan his third goal in the last two contests.
Lavan was given another terrific look to even the score when David Sartorio tracked down an attempted clear by a Duke defender and fed Lavan, who was turned away by Trapp once again at the 67:36 mark.
“As the game wore on we got better and better. I thought our depth and endurance was very strong tonight.”
Just minutes later, Turner, a freshman from The Grand Cayman Islands, finally provided Davidson with a well earned equalizer and the first score of his career. Sartorio got by the JMU defense on the left side and centered a ball to the top of the box finding Turner, who faked once and then ripped a right footed strike into the back of the net.
“David Sartorio was our leader this evening with his heart and it was evident when he created the first goal of Machel’s career.”
With just under 10 minutes left in regulation, Davidson moved Aaron West to forward hoping his fresh legs would make a difference. In the 87th minute, the Chapel Hill, N.C., native out-ran a Duke to a ball in the corner, then centered a low pass intended for Turner, but a JMU defender cut in front and netted an own goal on an attempted clear to give the Wildcats their eventual game-winner.
After trailing in the shot column by a 6-3 count at the conclusion of the first 45 minutes, Davidson outshot the Dukes 8-4 in the final half to hold a slim 11-10 edge in strikes. Ben Ashton had a career night in goal for the Wildcats turning away seven of JMU’s eight shots on frame. The Dukes’ Trapp also put together a solid performance with six stops of his own.
“Ben Ashton was terrific in goal for us,” said Spear. “He made some key saves, and for you to win big games you need that in a keeper.”
Prior to tonight’s win over the Dukes, James Madison had won the previous seven meetings with the Wildcats.
Davidson will conclude its appearance in the Charlotte JAKO Invitational Sept. 10 with a 12 p.m. match against Radford. JMU will battle the event host Charlotte shortly after on Sunday afternoon to wrap-up the invite.
Wofford 2, High Point 1
HIGH POINT, N.C. -- Junior Reed Blair netted the game-winning goal in the second half as the Wofford men's soccer team rallied for a 2-1 triumph Friday afternoon at High Point in nonconference action.
Blair tallied his first goal of the season when he was fed a pass from senior Brandon Lowery off a rebound at the 54:34 mark.
Earlier in the contest, the Terriers evened the scoring at 1-1 as a Panther defensive miscue set up a Chad Kite assist to senior Joel Kozak just before intermission at 43:14.
Host High Point (0-3-1) claimed the early advantage at 5:08 as Chris Archer found the back of the net on a direct kick opportunity.
Wofford (2-3-1) received two saves in net from returning starter Joey Taylor, who had missed the last two-and-a-half matches due to injury. Adam Ross collected one stop for the Panthers.
The Terriers will continue their season next at No. 4 Clemson Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Riggs Field in Clemson, S.C.
UAB 3, UNC Greensboro 2
GREENSBORO, NC -- UAB used two goals by Jerson Monteiro to help rally from an early 2-0 deficit and beat UNC Greensboro, 3-2, in a clash of Top 25 teams at the 2006 UNCG Men’s Soccer Classic on Friday night.
The Spartans, ranked in three of the four polls this week and rated as high as No. 18, jumped out early with a pair of goals just 57 seconds apart.
All-American Scott Jones, a candidate for the Hermann Trophy, scored his second goal of the season on a blast from 25 yards out to give UNCG a 1-0 lead at the 11:45 mark. Jones blast came off a feed from Jokull Elisabetarson.
Less than a minute later, Michael FitzGerald scored his team-leading fourth goal of the year on a gorgeous sliding shot. Thomas Campbell fed FitzGerald in the box with a long pass from the left side, hitting the ball from 45 yards away. Campbell slid into area where the ball was coming down and got a foot on it, drilling it into the net to give UNCG a 2-0 advantage at 12:42.
But the momentum shifted when UAB (3-1-1), which is ranked in two of the four polls and rated as high as No. 17, was awarded a penalty kick at 17:16 after a foul in the box on a loose ball situation. Lukasy Kwapisz connected to cut the deficit in half, 2-1.
Monetiro then tied the game midway through the first half on a Spartan defensive blunder. UNCG’s defense made an ill-advised pass, which was then fumbled by the Spartan keeper. Monteiro raced over to the loose ball and easily chipped it into the net from 12 yards out to tie the game.
The score remained even until 59:30 when Monteiro scored out of a crowd in front of the goal. A Blazer corner kick landed in the box and went off several players before Monteiro hit it towards the goal, possibly being deflected yet again, and finding the back of the net for a 3-2 lead.
UNCG (3-2-0) outshot UAB 11-9 on the night. UAB, which has had all five matches this year decided by one goal or less, held a 7-1 advantage in corner kicks.
In the first match of the evening, Elon defeated Belmont, 1-0. On Sunday, Elon will face UAB at 1 pm, followed by Belmont facing UNCG at approximately 3:30 pm.
Oral Roberts 5, Georgia Southern 1
SHREVEPORT, La. ? Georgia Southern’s first contest on the road this season ended in a 5-1 loss to Oral Roberts, Friday night, in the first of two games in this weekend’s Centenary Classic.
The Eagles (2-2) outshot their opponent 19-11, with ten of them on goal. But Oral Roberts goalkeeper Carlos Veron carefully defended his territory, making nine saves on the night, and freshman forward Juan Chang’s hat trick proved too much.
In the 16th minute, Chang netted the first goal on the night, connecting from about six yards out. Fifteen minutes later, the Golden Eagles (1-3) increased the lead to 2-0 when Chang assisted on an Eric Mattison shot that reached the upper right shelf.
The Eagles fought back two minutes later when sophomore Jon Kinsler (Ormond Beach, Fla.) scored on a Daniel Smith (Marietta, Ga.) helper, narrowing the deficit to 2-1 at the 31:27 mark. It was Kinsler’s second goal on the season.
Oral Roberts added one more goal with less than two minutes before the break when Chang connected for his second goal of the match, putting the Golden Eagles up, 3-1.
After the half, Chang netted his third goal at the 62:03 mark, while sophomore Jacob Schmoker sealed the match with a goal at 75:27, putting the Golden Eagles up 5-1.
Head Coach Kevin Kennedy's Eagles resume weekend play as they take on host Centenary, Saturday, Sept. 9 at 8:15 p.m.
College of Charleston 2, Denver 1 (2OT)
WILMINGTON, N.C. - Freshman Zach Prince scored his first goal of the season in the 106th minute of action to lift the College of Charleston to a 2-1 victory in double overtime over the University of Denver at the UNCW Jameson Inn Soccer Classic in Wilmington, N.C. on Friday night.
CofC (4-0-1) scored the first goal of the match in the 22nd minute off an unassisted strike from junior Grant Guthrie to give the Cougars an early 1-0 advantage.
Denver tied the match in the 75th minute, courtesy of a Miles Marmo goal, assisted by Ben Mendozza. The two teams ended regulation in a tie and played through one full overtime period.
The Cougars ended the match with Prince’s goal, that was assisted by sophomore Casey Gold and senior Darren Toby.
“We controlled much of the action in the first half, but Denver came back and played us tough in the second half,” said CofC associate head coach Ralph Polson. “We continued to play hard throughout the entire match and our effort paid of in the second overtime period.”
CofC had eight shots in the match, while Denver had 13. Denver had 15 corner kicks in the match, while CofC had four.
Junior goalkeeper Corbin Waller continued his undefeated season by playing the entire match and making four saves.
“Our entire team made a commitment to give maximum effort every match and try to win every match this year,” said Polson. “We’ve all focused on these goals and been successful so far.”
Nine different Cougars have scored at least one goal this season in a match. The last time CofC has played its first five matches of a season without suffering a defeat was in 1992, when the Cougars were a member of the TAAC.