Elon 2, Georgia Southern 0
ELON, N.C. ? The Elon Phoenix men’s soccer squad posted its school-record fourth consecutive shutout to earn a 2-0 Southern Conference victory over the visiting Georgia Southern Eagles from Rudd Field on Saturday night. Elon teams had posted three straight shutouts three other times, the most recent in 2003. The Phoenix has not allowed a score in the last 385:53 of game time.
The win pushes Elon’s record to 4-2-1 overall and 1-0-0 in SoCon action. Georgia Southern fell to 3-5-0, 0-1-0.
In the first half, Elon put four shots on frame to just one for Georgia Southern, but neither team was able to find the back of the net for a goal.
The first Phoenix marker came in the 57th minute as an Eagle defender scored on his own goal to put Elon ahead 1-0. Freshman Chris Leko would later net his first career goal after running down a long ball from Will Mason which sailed just over a leaping GSU player’s head. Leko then went one-on-one with Eagle keeper Brian Young and beat him for the score with exactly 30 minutes remaining.
Late in the contest, Georgia Southern applied some pressure, but was unable to put any more chances on goal.
“It’s nice to get off to a good start in the conference against a solid Georgia Southern team,” said Elon head coach Darren Powell. The boys have been playing well and we’re proud to set a new school record with four shutouts in a row. We will continue to strive to do better at Clemson on Tuesday night.”
Irwin had to make just the one save in the game while Young stopped six shots. The Phoenix held edges in shots (10-8) and shots on goal (8-1) while the Eagles held a slim margin in corner kicks (3-2).
Elon will pay a visit to Clemson on Tuesday night. That match will start at 7:00 p.m. Georgia Southern returns home to take on Wofford on Thursday at 5:00 p.m.
UNC Greensboro 3, UNC Wilmington 2
WILMINGTON, NC ? Thomas Campbell broke a 2-2 tie with 9:02 left in regulation as UNC Greensboro ran its unbeaten streak to five in a row with a 3-2 win over UNC Wilmington in non-conference men’s soccer action Saturday night.
Campbell’s tally, his second of the year, came just 48 seconds after the Seahawks had tied the game with a goal by Daniel Roberts. It ran the Spartans unbeaten string to five straight matches, going 3-0-2 in that span. Despite losing five of their top six scorers from last year, UNCG is now 4-1-2 on the season.
The start of the match was delayed more than an hour by a line of severe thunderstorms in the Wilmington area. That may have contributed to a sluggish first half, with neither team finding the net. But things opened up in the second half.
Jokull Elisabetarson scored the first goal of the game when he converted a penalty kick at 58:48. The junior from Iceland successfully converted a fourth penalty kick this year and his fifth goal of the season after Campbell had been pulled down in the box.
UNCW (1-4-1) tied the score when Indy Smith scored unassisted at 66:40. He collected a deflection off a cross and knocked it home for his first tally of the season.
The Spartans tied the game less than five minutes later. Tim Masters played a short cross from the right side that Chris Ethier knocked home for his first tally as a Spartan and a 2-1 lead. With his tally, Ethier became the eighth different Spartan to record a goal already this season.
Roberts tied the game with 9:50 to play with a blast from 20 yards out. Jon Kearns played a cross from the left side and Roberts knocked it home from there to knot the score.
However, Campbell headed in David Worthen’s low cross from left side of the field for the gamewinner at 80:58.
UNCG, which was making its first trip to Wilmington since the Spartans were knocked off by the Seahawks as the No. 1 team in the nation in 2004, held an 11-8 advantage in shots and 7-6 in corner kicks. Nate Berry had two saves for UNCG, while Brock Duckworth had three for the Seahawks.
The Spartans return to action on Wednesday when they conclude their four-match road swing and open Southern Conference play with a 4 pm match at Appalachian State.
AGATE
UNCG........................ 0 3 - 3
UNC Wilmington...... 0 2 - 2
SCORING SUMMARY: SCORING: UNCG Elisabetarson (penalty kick) 58:48; UNCW Smith (unassisted) 66:40; UNCG Ethier (Masters) 71:18; UNCW Roberts
(Kearns) 80:10; UNCG Campbell (Worthen) 80:58. Shots: UNCG 11, UNC Wilmington 8. Saves: UNCG 3 (Berry 2; TEAM 1), UNC Wilmington 5 (Duckworth, 4; TEAM 1). Corner kicks: UNCG 7, UNCW 6. Fouls: UNCG 8, UNCW 16.
Appalachian State 3, Radford 0
BOONE, N.C. - The Appalachian State men’s soccer regained the winning form with a 3-0 victory over Radford. In the win, Appalachian improves to 4-1-2 on the young season having not fallen in their last six matches. Radford in the loss falls to 3-4-0 on the campaign.
“I’m very pleased with the way we are defending,” said head coach Paul Stahlschmidt. “We scored some great goals today. We’ve had some good crowds to come out and watch us play. We are looking forward to an exciting match against UNC Greensboro on Wednesday.”
Just before intermission, J.T. LaBruyere grabbed the lead for Appalachian as he pushed home a rebound. The rebound came from a free kick taken by senior Michael Walters who took the hard shot from 35 yards. LaBruyere’s goal is his first of the season. Walters’ assist is his fourth of the season.
Freshman Steven Sassano netted his first goal of his career by pushing home a through ball from ten yards out in the 68th minute. Assisting Steven was his brother, senior Sean Sassano and sophomore Arie Muniz.
Two minutes later, Appalachian iced the game with a goal from senior McCoy Livingston with a goal from 12 yards out. Livingston was picked out on a long ball from Michael Walters who earns his second assist of the match. The goal is the fifth of Livingston’s career and second of the season. The 80th minute goal came on Livingston’s 21st birthday.
Senior Greg Walters earned the win in goal, his second of the season. He earns his third shutout of the season making three saves.
The win closes out non-conference play for the Mountaineers who will now open SoCon play by hosting conference rival UNC Greensboro on Wednesday, September 26 at 4:00. The match will be held at the ASU Soccer Stadium where admission is free.