Elon 1, North Carolina 1 (2OT)
ELON, N.C. ? An Elon-record crowd of 1,773 fans were on hand Tuesday night to witness the Elon Phoenix and the North Carolina Tar Heels battle to a 1-1 tie in men’s soccer action from Rhodes Stadium. The match was the Fourth Annual Match to Benefit The V Foundation for Cancer Research and raised in excess of $1,000 for the foundation. The Phoenix picked up its third tie in three tries against ACC foes, all 1-1 decisions, including deadlocks at Clemson and at then-#1 Wake Forest. This was the first time in 13 meetings that UNC did not come out victorious against Elon. Each of the last three games in this series have gone to overtime.
The Phoenix (6-3-4) jumped on top in the 38th minute when Daniel Street collected a Brett Paschall pass. From the left, Street sent the ball past a diving Tyler Deric low for his second score of the season. Kyle Boerner and the Elon defense turned away four UNC attempts on goal during the first 45 minutes.
In the second half, Street almost put Elon up 2-0, but Deric dove to his right and deflected Street’s sure goal off the post and out.
North Carolina (4-3-5) put in the equalizer in the 79th minute. Garry Lewis found the back of the net for the second time this season when he headed home Michael Callahan’s corner. The Tar Heels put more pressure on, but Boerner again came up big for the Phoenix, stopping four more shots.
In the first overtime period, Elon got off the only shot on frame which was stopped by Deric.
Elon had one shot on goal in the final 10 minute stanza, but could not slip one past Deric while the Tar Heels put two shots on frame.
“This was another tough game against ACC opposition,” said Elon head coach Darren Powell. “Our guys competed very well. We just didn’t quite see the whole game out in the second half, but we responded well and managed to get a tie against a top ACC team. I thought it was a very entertaining game for the fans and I know that our guys appreciated the support from the students and community.”
North Carolina finished the night with 20 total shots to 11 for Elon and also held an 11-5 edge in shots on goal. The Tar Heels also earned nine corner kicks, including six in the first half, to just three for the Phoenix.
Boerner grabbed nine saves while Deric tallied four stops on the night.
Elon will return to SoCon action on Saturday evening at Wofford. Game time is set for 6 p.m. in Spartanburg, S.C.
#2 Wake Forest 8, UNC Greensboro 0
GREENSBORO, N.C. ? Second-ranked Wake Forest got two goals each by Cody Arnoux and Michael Lahoud in dominating UNC Greensboro, 8-0, in men’s soccer action Tuesday night at UNCG Soccer Stadium.
Arnoux scored twice in the first 15 minutes of the match. His eighth and ninth goals of the season came just 2:46 apart, the latter of which gave the Demon Deacons a 3-0 lead. Arnoux also added an assist on Wake Forest’s second goal of the night, Jamie Franks’ first tally of the season.
Lahoud scored on a penalty kick at 38:46 and again at 53:06 off a feed from Patrick Phelan.
Although UNCG had a couple of great scoring opportunities, including a shot by Jokull Elisabetarson that went off the crossbar, Wake Forest held a 17-7 advantage in shots and a 4-3 margin in corner kicks.
Wake Forest (10-0-2) is one of two unbeaten teams remaining in the nation.
Quinnipiac is the other.
The 8-0 loss was UNCG’s worst in 30 years, going back to the 1977 season when they suffered a 9-0 loss against UNC Wilmington.
UNCG (6-6-2) returns to action Saturday night when it hosts No. 10 Creighton at UNCG Soccer Stadium. Kickoff is set for 7 pm.
AGATE
Wake Forest..5..3..- 8
UNCG. . . . . .0..0..- 0
SCORING: WF - Arnoux (Schilawski) 11:34; WF - Franks (Arnoux) 13:11; WF - Arnoux (Phelan) 14:20; WF ? Adams (Valentin, Cronin) 25:12; WF ? Lahoud (penalty kick) 38:46; WF ? Lahoud (Phelan) 53:06; WF ? Tracy (da Luz) 55:43; WF ? Gonzalez (da Luz) 89:00. Shots: UNCG 7, Wake Forest 17. Saves:
UNCG 2 (Berry 1, Dickerson 1), Wake Forest 3 (Edwards 1, Fitzgerald 2, Chelko 0). Corner kicks: UNCG 3, Wake Forest 4. Fouls: UNCG 8, Wake Forest 6.
- UNCG -