Georgia Southern 3, Appalachian State 2
STATESBORO, Ga. ? Freshman forward Luigi Clendening scored the game-winning goal in the 87th minute, lifting the Eagles to a 3-2 advantage over Appalachian State, Saturday afternoon (Oct. 20), in a Southern Conference match-up at Eagle Field.
With the win, the Eagles improve to 6-8-0 overall and 2-3-0 in conference play. The Mountaineers fall to 6-6-3 overall and 2-3-1 in league action.
Clendening’s goal in the 87th minute was his second on the day and fifth in his rookie season as the Eagles clinched their first league win since Wofford (Sep. 27).
Appalachian State came out strong early in the first half, producing a 9-2 advantage in shots. But after a pair of opportunities from BJ Reine (Baton Rouge, La.) and Daniel Smith (Marietta, Ga.), Georgia Southern was the first to get up on the scoreboard in the 32nd minute. Junior Scott DeVault (Woodstock, Ga.) sent a free kick from 40 yards out into the box where freshman Austin Steele (Kennesaw, Ga.) flicked the ball into the net for his second winner of the season.
The Mountaineers responded in the 45th minute when J.T. LaBrugere sent a low header eight yards out into the back of the net, thanks to a corner kick pass from Michael Walters.
Both teams went into the locker room with a 1-1 tie. Appalachian State held an 11-7 advantage in shots and a 5-1 lead in corner kicks.
In the 58th minute, Clendening netted his first of two goals to give the Eagles a 2-1 lead. Teammate Patrick Johns (Cumming, Ga.) fed a sprinting Clendening with a lob pass overhead. Clendening beat the defense and knocked in the shot over the ASU keeper.
Again, Appalachian State countered with a goal off the foot of Tim Bender in the 64th minute to tie up the match. Juan Obregon passed to Bender inside the box, and Bender finished with a shot into the left side of the net.
The Eagles had a chance to up their score in the 86th minute when an Appalachian State foul in the box awarded Georgia Southern a penalty kick. Mountaineer keeper Greg Walters made the diving save to his right to keep the score knotted at 2-2.
But less than one minute later, Clendening knocked in the game-winner to give the Eagles a 3-2 edge in the few remaining minutes.
The Georgia Southern defense managed to curb Appalachian State’s opportunities to seven shots in the second half, compared to GSUs eight, and the Mountaineers were unable to even up the score as time expired.
Eagle goalkeeper Joey Ralph (Martinez, Ga.) made eight saves in a full day in the cage and garnered his second win on the season. For ASU, Walters made five saves in 90 minutes of play.
The Mountaineers edged the Eagles in total shots (18-15) while commanding a 7-1 lead in corner kicks.
Georgia Southern will next travel to Greensboro, N.C., Friday, October 26 for an 8 p.m. match. The game is scheduled to be broadcast on Fox Soccer Channel. Appalachian State visits College of Charleston Saturday, October, 27 at 6:00 p.m.
Elon 4, Wofford 1
SPARTANBURG, S.C. -- The Wofford men's soccer team dropped a 4-1 decision to visiting Elon Saturday evening in Southern Conference action at Snyder Field in Spartanburg, S.C.
The Phoenix capitalized in the second half when Aaron Parker sliced through the Wofford (4-9-1, 0-5 SoCon) defense before feeding Daniel Street along the left flank. Street then found a wide-open Justin Wyatt standing at the far post and Wyatt used his chest to redirect the pass and score the game winner at 52:14.
Freshman Armin Kinigander netted his second goal of the season at 38:37 when he received passes from senior Kyle Walker and classmate Kentrel Owens before firing his shot to the lower left corner past Phoenix goalkeeper Clint Irwin to knot the score at 1-1.
Elon (7-3-4, 4-1 SoCon) had taken an early lead, at 7:27, when Stephen Miller found the back of the net on a crossing pass he received from Andrew Johnson, who was fed the ball by Alex Barake. Barake nearly put the Phoenix on top early in the second half, but his hard attempt was tipped high by a leaping Joey Taylor. On the ensuing corner kick, Street sent a bending ball near the net, which was saved off the line by a Terrier defense.
The visitors tallied their next score of the game at 70:06 when Brett Paschall found the back of the net from 20 yards out after receiving the ball on an attempted punch-out clearing by Taylor following an Elon corner kick. Paschall then added his second with 13:48 remaining, at 76:12,s on a Penalty Kick following a Terrier foul inside the 18-yard box.
The Phoenix finished with a 15-6 advantage on shots and a 13-1 edge on corner kicks.
Wofford will resume its home schedule with a 6:00 p.m. Tuesday meeting against College of Charleston to conclude a four-match homestand. Elon hosts Winthrop in a non-conference clash Wednesday night at 7:00 p.m.
#14 Furman 2, College of Charleston 1
Mt. Pleasant, S.C. -- Eric Baffour and Haris Cekic each scored goals as the #14 Furman Paladins edged the College of Charleston in SoCon men's soccer action in front of 768 fans at Patriots Point Field.
Furman struck early when Baffour scored in the eighth minute. Patrick White took a shot that bounced of the right post. Baffour rebounded and found the back of the net from seven yards out for the score.
Defenders Doug Edwards and Ryan Kell held the Paladins to just 11 shots on the evening while the Cougars had a narrow advantage with 12.
The physical, defensive battle continued into the second half with both teams being called for a combined 26 fouls and five cautions.
Cekic added his fifth goal of the season after a Cougar foul near the top of the penalty box. Patrick Murray took the free kick from the left side and Cekic headed the ball to the back of the net to put the Paladins up 2-0 (70:53).
Kell spoiled the shutout when he put the Cougars on the board in the 75th minute. After a brief scramble in the Furman penalty box the ball was cleared. Kell collected and took a shot from 20 yards out for his first goal of the season.
Grant Guthrie led the Cougars with four goals. Senior goalie Corbin Waller made four saves on the evening while Bryan Amos made six stops for the Paladins.
CofC has a week off before it travels to the Upstate to take on Wofford at 6:00 p.m. on Saturday, October 27. Furman will host Elon in its final Southern Conference match, Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
#10 Creighton 2, UNC Greensboro 0
GREENSBORO, N.C. ? In a closely contested match throughout the night, tenth-ranked Creighton used a goal in the latter part of each half to top UNC Greensboro, 2-0, Saturday night at UNCG Soccer Stadium.
The Blue Jays raised their mark to 8-1-4 on the season, while UNCG fell to
6-7-2 on the year.
Thomas Gjoesund opened the scoring at 40:42 on a header. After an initial crossing attempt from the right corner was blocked off, the ball deflected back out to Danny Minutillo. Minutillo moved the ball back down into the right corner uncontested and played a cross from the right corner to the middle of the box. Gjoesund was able to get a head on it and deposit it for his fifth goal of the season and a 1-0 Creighton advantage.
Despite numerous chances by both teams, the score remained that way until 79:01. Tim Bohnenkamp made a run from midfield down the left sideline. As he moved to about 15 yards from the endline, he played a cross to Andrei Gotsmanov, who knocked it home from six yards out to make it a 2-0 lead.
The Spartans threatened several times late, including a shot by Thomas Campbell that was knocked away at the last second by defender Seth Sinovic with just under 10 minutes to play. However, Matt Allen made eight saves on the night to record the shutout.
UNCG will return to action on Friday night when they host Georgia Southern in a key Southern Conference match-up that will be televised by Fox Soccer Channel. Georgia Southern gave the Spartans some help on Saturday, knocking off Appalachian State, 3-2, in Statesboro and leaving the door open for the Spartans to earn a home game in the SoCon Tournament’s quarterfinal round.
The Spartans (2-3-0) have the game with Georgia Southern (2-3-0) left, which they are now tied with at six points, and a game at Elon. Appalachian State (2-3-1), which has seven points, has one remaining league match at always difficult College of Charleston.
UNCG will host the semfinal and final rounds of the SoCon Tournament.
AGATE
Creighton..1..1..- 2
UNCG.. .. ..0..0..- 0
SCORING: CU ?Cjoesund (Minutillo) 40:42; CU ? Gotsmanov (Bohenkamp) 79:01.
Shots: CU 10, UNCG 15. Saves: CU 9 (Allen 8, Team 1), UNCG 4 (Janda 4).
Corner Kicks: CU 6, UNCG 2. Fouls: CU 19, UNCG 16.
Davidson 4, Coastal Carolina 2
DAVIDSON, N.C. ? Behind three freshmen goals and two assists, Davidson ran its unbeaten streak to three consecutive with a 4-2 victory over Coastal Carolina Saturday at Alumni Stadium. With the triumph, the Wildcats improve to 3-10-1 overall, while the Chanticleers fall to 5-6-1.
“The freshmen were clearly our most important players today,” commented Davidson head coach Matt Spear. “Both in the goal-scoring department and also Matt McElroy making his first career start in goal. He made a couple critical saves in the second half to keep our defense tight and them off the board.”
Alex Caskey, who just missed putting the Wildcats on the board in the first minute, capitalized on his next opportunity, a blast from 25 yards out, to give his club an early 1-0 advantage. Fellow freshman Mauricio Simms set up Caskey’s second career strike with a centering pass from the left side.
Shortly after Davidson’s sixth minute score, the Chanticleers’ Robert Holstein evened the match at a goal each; with a chip shot from the right side off a Kevin Van Den Berg feed.
The Wildcats threatened again at the 24:27 mark in the opening period, but Coastal Carolina’s Matt Smith made a diving save on Machel Turner’s shot from point blank range, to keep the game deadlocked.
Despite Davidson controlling a majority of the possession in the first half, both teams attempted three shots prior to the break.
Early in the second stanza, the Wildcats had another great chance to retake the lead, but Charlie Reiter’s free kick from just outside the box sailed high of frame.
Just after checking into the contest, freshman Peter Shelton gave the lead back to Davidson when he one touched a cross from co-captain Cameron Griffin into the back of the net for his first collegiate goal.
After Shelton’s strike, the Wildcats quickly put the game away with goals from forward’s Turner and Yannick Pilgrim in the 76th and 80th minutes, respectively, to put the match out of reach.
Pilgrim’s goal, which was also his first in a Wildcat uniform, came on a breakaway where he chipped a shot to the back post. Reiter, who had his three-game goal streak end today, found the streaking Pilgrim for his fourth career assist.
“The game was won during that 15-20 minute stretch in the second half where we were able to connect on passes and then feed off those with some great scoring chances in the final third.”
Holstein added his second goal of the affair and the game’s final with 3:17 remaining off a pass from Djamel Bekka.
Both clubs finished with 12 shots, but Coastal Carolina held a 9-3 margin in corner kicks. Making his first career start, the Wildcats’ Matt McElroy led both keepers with six saves, while Matt Smith turned away four between the pipes for CCU.
This afternoon’s win was the Wildcats’ first at Alumni Stadium since defeating Loyola on the final day of the Davidson adidas Classic Sept. 3, 2006.
Davidson will continue its five-game homestand with a 1 p.m. contest against SoCon foe Wofford Saturday, Oct. 27. The Chanticleers return to action Tuesday at 7 p.m. when they host top-ranked Wake Forest.
“The guys are excited and have been building some confidence over the last couple weeks. We certainly don’t think we are peaking right now and know we have more and better soccer ahead of us. We need to keep improving and accelerating forward to come closer to our potential and goal.”