Elon 4, UNC Greensboro 0
GREENSBORO, N.C. ? Stephen Dilger and Erfan Imani both a goal and an assist to lead Elon to its first-ever Southern Conference men’s soccer regular season championship, defeating UNC Greensboro, 4-0, at UNCG Soccer Stadium on Saturday night.
The Phoenix, 7-8-1 overall and 6-0-0 in league play, won their first-ever title on the field their head coach Darren Powell once played. Powell was a four-year starter for UNCG in the early 1990s and was Michael Parker’s assistant before leaving to take over the Elon program four years ago.
Imeni gave the Phoenix a 1-0 lead at 14:43. Aaron Parker’s thru ball found Imeni about 25 yards out from the goal. He made a run into the box and poked it just inside the right post for his fourth goal of the season.
Brad Franks’ first goal of the season made it 2-0 at 38:55. Dilger’s initial shot hit a crowd in front of the goal. Franks came away with the rebound and knocked it home from eight yards out.
The Spartans had several chances in the first half, including two shots off the post that could have changed the game. However, Elon keeper Clint Irwin got just enough of the first one with a dive to his left and UNCG’s Nirav Kadam hit the post square on with the second one.
Justin Wyatt added to his SoCon-leading point total with his ninth goal of the season at 77:29 that broke the Spartans’ backs. The ball bounced out from the Spartan defense to Wyatt at the top of the box. He hit a blast to the right of the goal for 15 yards out to give him 21 points on the season.
Elon held an 18-16 advantage in shots, although UNCG’s last strong chance to score was Kadam’s post shot late in the first half.
UNCG (6-9-1, 2-3-0) still has a shot at a home quarterfinal match in the Southern Conference Tournament, needing to likely beat Appalachian State and Georgia Southern in their last two league matches. The Spartans host Appalachian State next Saturday at 7 pm.
Georgia Southern 1, Wofford 0
SPARTANBURG, S.C. -- A second half goal was all visiting Georgia Southern needed to take a 1-0 victory over Wofford in Southern Conference men's soccer action Saturday evening at Snyder Field in Spartanburg, S.C.
Daniel Smith tallied his team-leading fifth goal of the season on a sliding shot from 18 yards out to the far left corner at 62:26 past Terrier goalkeeper Thomas Hunter for the only mark on the scoreboard.
Wofford (5-10, 1-4 SoCon) had three solid opportunities in the second half, starting with a Yakov Rubinchik shot high over the crossbar at 52:15 along the right side. Nick Schuermann put his head on the first two team corner kicks, but both attempts went just wide.
The final Terrier chance came with seven-and-a-half minutes remaining when Branson Hyatt tried to slip one past the Eagle defense, but a defender cleared it from inside the six-yard box. Georgia Southern (5-7, 2-3 SoCon) then used the advantage and pushed forward with Jon Cox ripping a shot high near the crossbar. Hunter had to make a leaping save over the bar to keep it from entering the net, forcing a corner kick situation.
Mark Beville also had a shot off a prior corner kick for the Eagles, which was stopped by Hunter, the reigning Southern Conference Player of the Week.
Wofford held a 13-10 shot advantage with six players collecting two shots apiece. Three different Georgia Southern players had two shots contributing to its total.
Joey Ralph registered four saves in the shutout for the Eagles, while Hunter finished with five stops.