#25 Furman 4, Georgia Southern 0
Greenville, S.C. -- Senior Chris Davis netted two goals and added an assist to lead Furman past Georgia Southern 4-0 in Southern Conference men’s soccer action Saturday afternoon at Stone Soccer Stadium.
The win improves Furman to 8-1-0 overall and 1-0-0 in the SoCon while the Eagles dip to 4-6-0 overall and 0-2-0 in league play.
“I’m very pleased with the win and very happy for Chris Davis who got his first two goals of the season,” said Furman coach Doug Allison. “It was a good Southern Conference victory for us.”
After a first half featuring most of the possession in the midfield, Furman broke through in the 34th minute on Shea Salinas’ second goal of the season. Davis played a pass into the box from the left side and Salinas tapped a shot by keeper Josh Veal to give Furman a 1-0 lead at the half.
Brooks Duff doubled the lead just past the hour mark running onto a Patrick Murray through ball and beating the keeper low and to the left at 65:43 for his sixth tally of the season.
Davis put the match out of reach adding two second half insurance goals for the final 4-0 margin. Jordan Howard sprung Davis free behind the Eagle defense at 68:43. Davis dribbled by the keeper and deposited his first goal of the season into an empty net. Just 10 minutes later, Curt McDonald played the ball wide to Talon Stroud who connected with Davis at the top of the box. The senior split two defenders and muscled a shot past Veal for his second goal of the afternoon.
Bryan Amos made to diving saves early in the second half to help preserve his fifth shutout of the season. Veal notched two saves in the loss for Georgia Southern.
Furman held an 11-7 edge in shot attempts while Georgia Southern took a
4-3 advantage in corner kicks.
Furman travels to face arch-rival UNC Greensboro in Southern Conference action on Wednesday at 7 p.m. The Eagles will continue a tough three-game road trip as they face Clemson, Tuesday, Oct. 2 at 7 p.m. at Riggs Field, then, a week later at USC Upstate (Oct. 10) in Spartanburg, S.C.
Akron 2, UNC Greensboro 0
GREENSBORO, NC ? Ben Zumanski and Matt Tutich both tallied second half goals to spoil UNC Greensboro’s Homecoming and lift Akron to a 2-0 win in men’s soccer action Saturday night at UNCG Soccer Stadium.
A season-high crowd of 2,228 saw an evenly-played match for most of the night. However, the Zips took advantage of two second half chances, while UNCG was limited to chances mostly outside the 18-yard box. Of the near misses that UNCG did have, they came on shots from the 20-25 yard range.
UNCG (4-3-2) held a 10-8 advantage in shots, but Akron had a 3-1 margin in corner kicks. All three of the Zips’ corner kicks came in the second half, one of which resulted in a goal.
After a scoreless first half, Akron got on the board at 55:18. Anthony Ampaipitakwong played a cross from the right side of the field. The ball rolled through a crowd in front of the net. However, Zemanski was finally able to get a foot on it halfway across the goal mouth to flick it into the net for his second goal of the season and a 1-0 lead.
The Zips (6-2-1) took a two-goal lead at 78:26. Steve Zakuani put the ball in play with a corner kick. Tutich was at the near post and was able to get a head on it and put it into the net for his third goal of the season.
The loss by UNCG was just its third-ever in 23 Homecoming matches. The Spartans’ last Homecoming loss came back in 1999 when they were shutout by Wake Forest, 1-0. All-time, UNCG is 18-3-2 on Homecoming.
The Spartans were shutout for the second straight match, the first time UNCG has suffered consecutive shutout losses in a season since November 1995. UNCG was shutout in consecutive matches last season, resulting in a loss and a tie.
UNCG will look to bounce back when they host Southern Conference pre-season favorite and No. 25-ranked Furman ? a team that features one of the Top 5 offenses and defenses in the nation right now ? on Wednesday night at 7 pm.
AGATE
Akron... 0 2 - 2
UNCG.. 0 0 - 0
SCORING SUMMARY: UA ? Zemanski (Ampaipitakwong) 55:18; UA ? Tutich
(Zakuani) 78:26. Shots: Akron 8, UNCG 10. Saves: UNCG 4 (Janda 4), Akron 4 (Bush 4). Corner Kicks: UNCG 1, Akron 3. Fouls: UNCG 8, Akron 18.
- UNCG -
Charlotte 4, Appalachian State 0
BOONE, N.C. ? The Appalachian State men’s soccer team was not able to keep the momentum as they fell to Charlotte 4-0 on Saturday afternoon. The loss ends the Mountaineer’s seven match unbeaten streak, the longest since 1980 and drops the Apps to 5-2-2 on the campaign. Charlotte improves their record to 5-3-0 on the year.
“Charlotte really came to play today, “ said head coach Paul Stahlschmidt. “As a group, we were outworked for most of the match. We’ll be ready for Wofford on Wednesday.”
Charlotte struck twice within the span of less than a minute to take the 2-0 lead, one that they would not look back from. Tom Wollard scored both goals in the 26th and 27th minutes. An ASU own goal in the 64th minute would push the lead to 3-0, before Adam Gross put the game on ice in the 87th minute, scoring to extend the Niner lead to 4-0.
Senior Greg Walters saw his school record string of four consecutive shutouts come to an end as he suffered his first loss of the season to fall to 3-1-2. Walters made two saves. but allowed four goals, twice his season total entering the match.
Appalachian was outshot by a 9-8 margin and were called for 16 fouls while only drawing 14 infractions. The Apps drew more corner kicks by a 5-3 mark, but were flagged for offsides four times.
The Mountaineers next match is on Wednesday, October 3 at 3:30 pm. The Wofford Terriers venture up the Mountain as ASU returns to SoCon play. The league battle will be held at the ASU Soccer Stadium where Admission is Free.