Furman 2, Appalachian State 1
GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Junior Jordan Howard netted his first goal of the season in the 80th minute to send Furman past Appalachian State 2-1 and give the Paladins their eighth straight win in Southern Conference men’s soccer action Wednesday evening at Stone Stadium.
Furman, which extended its unbeaten streak to nine matches, improved to 9-4-1 overall and 4-0 in the Southern Conference while Appalachian State dipped to 7-6 overall and 2-3 in league play. The Paladins boast a 10-match Southern Conference regular season winning streak dating back to last season.
Howard scored the decisive goal at the 79:02 mark after Brooks Duff dribbled through the right side of the box and ripped a shot off of the finger tips of the Mountaineer goalkeeper. The Cary, N.C., product pounced on the rebound at the left post and tapped in for the eventual game-winner.
The Paladins jumped into the lead less than five minutes into the match on Dane Roberts’ third goal of the season. The sophomore found space on the right side of the box and delivered a shot that glanced off the left post and into net at the 4:24 mark.
Appalachian State equalized in the 28th minute through Lee Rutter’s first goal of the season. The freshman was left unmarked and rocketed a 28-yard shot past Paladin goalkeeper Alec Kann into the left corner at 27:10 to knot the game at 1-1.
Both teams flirted with scoring a go ahead goal in the second half.
Furman’s Coleton Henning attempted a bicycle kick with 24 minutes remaining that flashed just wide of the right post and Appalachian State threatened on a pair of headers inside the penalty spot before Howard struck for the game-winning goal.
The Paladins held a 16-8 edge in total shots while both teams directed five shots on goal. Appalachian State was awarded two corner kicks to just one for the Paladins.
Kann, a freshman from Decatur, Ga., improved to 6-1 in goal for the Paladins totaling four saves on the night. Collin Taylor stopped three shots in the loss for the Mountaineers.
Appalachian State will try to halt a three-match losing streak when it steps out of conference play and travels to VMI for a 3 p.m. kickoff on Saturday. Furman looks to remain unbeaten in the league when it travels to Spartanburg, S.C., to face Wofford on Saturday at 6 p.m.
Elon 2, Davidson 0
DAVIDSON, N.C. ? The Davidson men’s soccer team was unable to overcome an Elon goal just over three minutes into the match, and dropped their Southern Conference matchup with the Phoenix, 2-0, Wednesday evening at Alumni Stadium.
The eventual game-winning goal came at the 3:07 mark of the first half, when Elon’s Aaron Parker made a run up the right side of the field, drawing the Davidson (2-10-1, 1-3-0 SoCon) defense to him, then dropping a pass in front of the net for teammate Erfan Imeni, who was able to put it past a diving Robby Goldsberry and into the goal.
The two teams battled for the next 58 minutes of action, which was characterized by a back-and-forth pace by both sides. In this span, Davidson was able to break through with some quality scoring chances, including a fast break attempt by freshman Mark Millard in the 39th minute that came close to knotting the score at one, but was saved by the Elon (6-7-1, 5-0-0 SoCon) goalkeeper.
The two teams combined for 12 shots between them in the first 45 minutes, including eight on goal, with the strength of the defenses keeping the halftime score at 1-0.
The second frame played out much like the first until the 61:47 mark, when Justin Wyatt collected a pass in the penalty box, spun, and fired a sideways bicycle shot into the back of the net to give Elon a 2-0 lead.
Despite the loss, Davidson held the advantage on the stat sheet, out-shooting Elon 11-10 for the match, including a 6-3 edge in the second half. The two teams each took three corner kicks, and were tied at 10 in the foul category.
Goldsberry collected five saves on the night, all coming in the first half. Sophomore Robert O’Donnell took a team-high three shots, leading a group of eight Wildcats who recorded a scoring attempt in the match.