Elon 2, UNC Asheville 0
ASHEVILLE, N.C. - Senior forward Brett Paschall came off the bench to score a goal and had an assist as Elon defeated UNC Asheville 2-0 in non-conference men's soccer action Wednesday afternoon. With the shutout win, the Phoenix equalled a school record with its third consecutive shutout. It is the fourth time in school history that the men's soccer program tallied three straight clean sheets. The other times occured in 1988, 1992 and 2003.
The Phoenix (3-2-1) scored both of its goals in the first half and made them stand up in the second half to earn its second straight victory. The Bulldogs fell to 1-3-0 on the season. Elon has not allowed a goal in its last 295:53 of game time.
"Elon made us change the way we played in the first half and then they got behind twice to score twice," stated UNC Asheville coach Steve Cornish. "We had some chances in the second half and if we could have gotten one on the board that might have changed the game. However, Elon was the deserving victor today. They are a well-coached team that should be a handful for everybody they play the rest of the season."
Elon scored both of its goals in a 10-minute span in the first half. In the 28th minute, Paschall started a run toward the Asheville goal. He made a pass to Justin Wyatt who fed a wide-open Aaron Parker in front of the goal. Wyatt tapped it into the goal for a 1-0 Phoenix lead at 28:13.
Paschall scored on a similar play when Jon Juchno fed the senior in front of the Asheville goal. Paschall scored from five yards for a 2-0 Elon margin at the 39:03 mark.
In the second half, Asheville controlled play early and got Scott Szymanski alone on a breakaway but Phoenix goalkeeper Kyle Boerner made one of two saves on the day to stop the Bulldogs.
"It's good to get our first road win of the season," stated Elon head coach Darren Powell. "It was nice to keep our clean sheet going. We've now got a couple of days to prepare for our first SoCon match with Georgia Southern."
Elon outshot Asheville, 13-6 and had four corner kicks to the home team's two.
The Phoenix returns home to battle the Eagles of Georgia Southern at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday night from Rudd Field.
UNC Greensboro 1, Charlotte 0
CHARLOTTE, NC ? Corey Maret’s first collegiate goal was the only tally of the night as UNC Greensboro ran its unbeaten streak to four straight with a 1-0 win over Charlotte in men’s soccer action Wednesday night.
Maret, the seventh different Spartan to score in UNCG’s six matches this season, scored off assists from Nirav Kadam and Travis Young, who had just come into the match a little more than two minutes earlier. The tally at
74:34 accounted for the only goal of the night for either team.
The Spartans kept the pressure on from there. The 49ers (3-3-0) had just two shots in the final 15 minutes. However, Nathan Mathers’ shot hit the post in the final minute as the Spartans held on for the win.
Nate Berry picked up the shutout, recording seven saves in the win. UNCG held a 17-15 advantage in shots, including 11-5 in the second half.
The Spartans (3-1-2) are now 2-0-2 in their last four matches. The UNCG defense has allowed just one goal in their last 385 minutes of action.
The Spartans continue their four-match road swing on Saturday when they visit UNC Wilmington for a 7 pm match.
AGATE
UNCG..............0..1..-1
CHARLOTTE...0..0..-0
SCORING: UNCG ? Maret (Kadam, Young) 74:34. SHOTS: UNCG 17, CHAR 15. CORNER
KICKS: UNCG 3, CHAR 2. SAVES: UNCG 9 (Berry 7, TEAM 2), CHAR 1 (Martin 7).
FOULS: UNCG 5, CHAR 9.
Georgia Southern 1, North Florida 0
STATESBORO, Ga. ? Georgia Southern’s Daniel Smith scored the gamewinner in the 55th minute to help propel the Eagles to a 1-0 shutout victory over North Florida, Wednesday afternoon, at Eagle Field, extending the win streak to two matches.
After returning from a scoreless first half, Smith (Marietta, Ga.) found teammate Scott DeVault (Woodstock, Ga.) sprinting up the right side of the field. DeVault played the give-and-go back to a flashing Smith up the center who beat the defense and tapped in the game’s lone goal.
With the win, Georgia Southern improves to 3-4-0 overall, while North Florida falls to 1-4-0.
The Ospreys came out attacking strong in the first half, unloading nine shots, compared to Georgia Southern’s five first-half strikes.
Senior goalkeeper Brian Young (Roswell, Ga.), who has started in the cage the past two games, made three saves in the first stanza, including a key save in the 33rd minute, stopping a penalty kick by UNF’s Martin Schuhte.
“Obviously saving a penalty kick in the first half is a huge swing of momentum because they were on us for a few minutes there,” said head coach Kevin Kennedy. “And then he saved that, which kind of turned the tide a little bit. I felt like the second half we played much better than the first half.”
Backed up by a strong defensive line, Young made several key plays inside and outside of the goal, warding off the Osprey’s focused attack.
“North Florida plays a very direct style,” said Kennedy. “So they were just bombing it back to our back four. Brian (Young) had an outstanding game and he was able to pick up some of those balls.”
It wasn’t until the second half that the change in momentum would yield a goal for the Eagles, and thanks to a balanced team effort, the Eagles held on for the first win over the Osprey’s since 1991.
North Florida led in total shots (13-9) and corner kicks (10-6).
Junior Julian Donaldson (Aurora, Colo.) and freshman Andres Cabrero (Mableton, Ga.) unleashed a team-high three shots on the day. Smith added a pair of shots while junior Austen Peacock (Carrollton, Texas) tallied one shot.
The Eagles will next hit the road to open up Southern Conference action, taking on Elon, Saturday, Sep. 22 at 7 p.m.
Appalachian State 0, Winthrop 0 (2OT)
ROCK HILL, S.C. - The Appalachian State men’s soccer team battled the Winthrop Eagles to a goalless draw on Wednesday night. With the result, Appalachian is now 3-1-2 on the season and 0-0-2 in overtime matches. Winthrop earns their first draw of the season and is now 4-1-1 on the season.
Both teams had plenty of chances throughout the match. The Mountaineers were outshot 11-5 in regulation, but had more chances in overtime by a 5-3 rate. Leading Appalachian was senior Sean Sassano with three shots, all on goal.
Senior Greg Walters earned the tie in goal making two saves in the match. Walters is now 1-0-2 on the season with two shutouts on the season.
Appalachian won the foul battle by committing only 10 infractions to Winthrop’s 24. The Mountaineers earned seven corners while allowing six.
The Mountaineers next game is on Saturday, September 22 against Radford. The match kicks off at 2:00 at the ASU Soccer Stadium. Admission is free.