Furman 2, Clemson 1 (OT)
GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Senior Patrick Murray buried the match-winning goal on an assist from Coleton Henning in the 98th minute to guide Furman past Clemson 2-1 in men’s soccer action in front of a crowd of 2,412 Tuesday evening at Stone Soccer Stadium.
Murray received a pass and dribbled into the attacking third of the field before playing the ball wide to Henning down the left wing. Henning delivered a centering pass to Murray just outside the 18-yard line at the top of the box and the midfielder ripped a shot into the left-hand side of
the net past a diving Joseph Bendik to give Furman its ninth win in its last 10 matches.
“This was a great win for our team against a quality Clemson team,” said Furman coach Doug Allison. “ I appreciate everything Clemson and Coach Adair did to make this night possible and I am glad we were able to support the Greenville Neonatal Care Unit through tonight’s fund-raiser.
I am also proud of our team for bouncing back after a loss.”
The win improved Furman to 10-5-1 on the season as the Paladins claimed their first victory over Clemson since a 3-2 triumph at Stone Stadium in 1999.
Furman opened the scoring in the 25th minute. Fabien Vorbe’s shot at the top of the box was saved by Bendik, but the rebound trickled into Vorbe’s path and he hammered an eight-yard shot into an open net for his fourth goal of the season at 24:48.
Clemson pulled even just over three minutes into the second half. Connor Barbaree played Nick Burton in behind the Paladin defense and he dribbled around Furman keeper Alec Kann to finish his second goal of the season at 48:10.
Furman held a commanding 21-13 edge in shot attempts and 8-5 advantage in shots on goal. Kann claimed his seventh win in goal making seven saves while Bendik stopped three shots for Clemson.
The Paladins conclude their 2008 home schedule Friday night when they host Southern Conference rival College of Charleston at 8 p.m. at Stone Stadium. The match will be televised live on Fox Soccer Channel which is available on Charter Digital Cable channel 318 in the Upstate.
Appalachian State 2, Virginia Tech 1
BLACKSBURG, Va. - Juan Obregon scored the game-winner in the 88th minute to give Appalachian State a 2-1 win over Virginia Tech Tuesday night in Blacksburg.
Obregon's second goal of the night came right after Emmanuel Akogyeram tied the game. Obregon knocked the game-winner past Virginia Tech keeper Stefan Caufield as he came out of the goal area.
The win is the first Appalachian win ever at Virginia Tech and the first time the Mountaineers have beaten the Hokies since a 4-3 win in 2000. The win is also the first Appalachian win over an ACC team since the 4-3 win over the Hokies.
The win moves Appalachian to 8-7 overall on the season, while the loss drops Virginia Tech to 5-9-1 on the year.
Appalachian got on the board quickly in the ninth minute when Obregon fired a free kick past the goalkeeper from the right side just outside the box. J.T. LaBruyere picked up the assist on the goal.
After the goal, Virginia Tech began firing away on Appalachian freshman goalkeeper Collin Taylor, firing 11 shots in the first half and 17 more in the second half. The 28 shots is the most allowed by Appalachian all season.
The Hokies finally got on the board in the 85th minute when Emmanuel Akogyeram slipped one past Taylor off a pass from Alexander Baden.
The goal set up the final heroics for Obregon as he scored with less than two minutes to go in the match.
Taylor made a career high 10 saves in the win while Caufield made two.
Appalachian finished the night with seven shots, five coming from Obregon. Obregon had all four shots on goal for the Mountaineers. LaBruyere and Arie Muniz had the other shots for Appalachian.
The Mountaineers will look to take the momentum from the win into their final regular season home game against Davidson on Sunday, Oct. 26 at 3:30 p.m.
Winthrop 2, College of Charleston 1 (OT)
ROCK HILL, S.C. --- A goal by Winthrop's Miquel Casajuana with 46 seconds remaining in the first overtime period lifted Winthrop to a 2-1 victory over the College of Charleston in men's soccer action on Tuesday evening.
With the loss, the Cougars fall to 8-7-0 overall, while Winthrop improves to 11-3-0 on the year.
In the first period, the Cougars were the first to strike, as Justin Fojo scored his first goal of the season unassisted in the 23rd minute of play. Fojo scored the goal from 18 yards outside the goal after receiving the ball off a wayward Winthrop clear.
In the second half, Winthrop knotted the game up at one in the 67th minute, when Matthew Skonicki scored off an assist from teammate Matt Lacey. Winthrop would continue to attack the goal and out shot the Cougars 9-2 in the half. Charleston goalie Clark Hankins, however, kept the Eagles off the scoreboard the rest of the period, as he made five saves in the half.
In overtime, both teams had only one-shot attempt the entire extra-frame. Winthrop cashed in on their attempt at the end of the period, as Casajuana scored off a pass from Daniel Revivo to end the match and give Winthrop their 11th win of the season.
Duke 2, Elon 0
ELON, N.C. -- The Elon Phoenix saw its four match winning streak snapped in front of a crowd of 1,210 fans at Rhodes Stadium on Tuesday night following a 2-0 loss to the visiting Duke Blue Devils. Elon, which sits atop the Southern Conference standings at 5-0-0 in league play, dropped to 6-8-1 overall on the season. Duke, who tied top-ranked Wake Forest 0-0 in its last contest, improved to 7-5-2 on the year. The match was the annual match hosted by Elon which helps to raise funds for The V Foundation for Cancer Research with a silent auction.
With the game scoreless just over 23 minutes into the contest, Elon had a good opportunity to score when Erfan Imeni and Aaron Parker slipped by the Duke defenders for a 2-on-1 with the Blue Devil keeper. Imeni's touch pass to Parker was just a little too hard and crossed the end line for a goal kick.
The Phoenix looked like it had claimed a 1-0 advantage in the 34th minute when Imeni sent a corner across the box to Parker. Parker's attempt appeared to cross the goal line, but was ruled not to have completely crossed and was cleared away by a Duke defender.
Just seconds later, the Blue Devils scored the game's first tally. Mike Grella fed Cole Grossman who was wide open on the right side of the box. Grossman sent his shot across the goal frame, finding the open left side of the net for his second goal of the season at 33:57.
Duke added to its lead in the second 45 minutes. Grossman blistered a shot from distance that Elon's Kyle Boerner made a diving stop on. However, the rebound rolled right to Nick Sih who deposited his second tally of the year at 55:57.
Boerner made numerous diving stops on the night and finished the contest with seven saves.
Brendan Fitzgerald made two stops for Duke, but the Blue Devil defenders cleared away two more Phoenix attempts.
Duke outshot Elon by a 19-7 margin overall and held a 9-4 edge in shots on goal. The Phoenix earned 10 corner kicks on the night, but was unable to capitalize on those attacks. The Blue Devils took five corners.
Elon returns to SoCon action when the Phoenix visits Triad rival UNC Greensboro in a 7 p.m. contest on Saturday evening.
Wake Forest 3, Davidson 0
DAVIDSON, N.C. - A pair of first-half goals proved too much for the Davidson men's soccer team to overcome in a 3-0 loss to No. 1 Wake Forest in front of a school-record crowd of 1,921 at Alumni Stadium Tuesday night.
Davidson battled the defending National Champions right out of the gate, controlling a potent Wake Forest offense and creating some chances of their own to start the match. The Demon Deacons, who had come into the night averaging over 18 shots per game, was held without a scoring chance until the 14:41 mark of the first half, and without a shot on goal until the 19th minute.
But just when the momentum seemed to be swinging the way of the ?Cats, Wake Forest’s leading scorer, Cody Arnoux, put away a pair of goals in the span of 36 seconds to give the Deacons what would prove to be a lead they would not relinquish. At the 24:22 mark, Arnoux fired what looked to be a crossing pass from outside the 18-yard box on the left side of the goal. The ball, however, had just enough of a curve on it to connect with the post on the far side of the net and bounce into the goal to put Wake Forest (14-0-1, 4-0-1 ACC) up, 1-0.
Arnoux then connected on his 11th goal of the season 36 seconds later courtesy of a tap in from just over eight yards out in front of the net to give the Deacons a two-goal advantage going into the half.
“When you play a team like Wake Forest, sometimes you start to feel comfortable, and that’s when they erupt,” said Davidson head coach Matt Spear. “Wake Forest didn’t get rattled, they stayed focused and seized the moment and took advantage of their chances.”
Although they were down, Davidson (2-11-1, 1-3-0 Southern Conference) was never out, putting together some good chances on their offensive end just before halftime, including a give-and-go between junior Yannick Pilgrim and senior Whitey Bolan that ended when Pilgrim’s final pass was just out of Bolan’s reach. Then at the 28:11 mark, freshman Mark Millard fired in a shot attempt that was stopped by the Wake Forest goalkeeper.
Coming out of the break, Wake was able to record an insurance goal in the 48th minute via Zack Schilawski’s shot through the hands of a diving Robby Goldsberry for his sixth goal of the year, putting the Deacons up, 3-0.
Despite the loss, Goldsberry stepped up to the occasion, making a career-high 10 saves, the most by a Davidson goalkeeper in two years. He faced the nation’s top offense head-on, with Wake taking 26 shots on the night, and Goldsberry showing his athleticism with numerous diving stops.
“I thought Robby was tremendous,” said Spear. “He made some very difficult stops, and made play after play, and I tip my hat to him.”
Davidson has possibly its best scoring chances in the last 15 minutes of the match, taking four shots in a span of three minutes, all of which were quality attempts, including a cross into the six-yard box that was cleared away by a Wake Forest defender.
The overflow crowd of 1,921 who came out to the match broke the old Davidson record of 1,348 set in 2005 when the Wildcats took on Charlotte in a 3-2 double-overtime Davidson victory. Spear commented after the match on the impact the crowd had on his players.
“It was very impressive to see the atmosphere tonight,” he said. “Having as many fans come out not only speaks for the quality of Wake Forest’s program, but for the quality of our program. It was a great chance for our kids to play in front of a record-setting crowd, and as an alumnus, I was proud of our fan base with the support they gave us.”
The Wildcats will now head into a critical two-game stretch this weekend, starting when they welcome Presbyterian College to Alumni Stadium on Friday night for their last non-conference matchup of the season, with kick off scheduled for 7 p.m. Then on Sunday they return to SoCon play when they travel to Boone, N.C. to take on Appalachian State to start a stretch of three-straight conference matches to close out the regular season. Kick off between the Wildcats and the Mountaineers is scheduled for 3:30 p.m.