SoCon Men's Soccer Championship Page

 

Semifinal 2: #7 UNC Greensboro 0, #3 Georgia Southern 0 (UNCG Advances on PKs, 3-2)

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Davidson, N.C. ? Seventh-seeded UNC Greensboro advanced past third-seeded Georgia Southern in a penalty shootout in the second semifinal of the 2008 Southern Conference Men’s Soccer Championship at Alumni Stadium in Davidson, N.C.

 

Following a scoreless draw through two overtime periods, the Spartans advanced in the tournament with a 3-2 advantage in penalty kicks.

 

UNC Greensboro (7-11-2, 2-5 SoCon) moves on to the SoCon championship match Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. against No. 5 seed College of Charleston, which knocked off top-seeded Elon, 4-1, in Friday’s first match.

 

Georgia Southern concludes the season at 8-8-1 overall and 4-3 in the Southern Conference.

 

Goalkeepers Nate Berry of UNC Greensboro and Joey Ralph of Georgia Southern each earned shutouts in the scoreless draw with Ralph stopping nine shots and Berry collecting four saves.

 

Berry stopped three of Georgia Southern’s five attempts in the shootout, clinching the win when Austen Peacock’s final shot went wide right.

 

Following a miss in its initial attempt, UNCG connected on three consecutive penalty shots from the boots of Matt Betts, Tim Masters and E.J. O’Keeffe.

 

One of Georgia Southern’s best chances came in the 67^th minute when Jarryd Nolette found Daniel Smith at the top of the box on a breakaway, but Smith’s shot rolled wide of the left post, keeping the match scoreless.

 

UNCG’s Masters blasted a shot from the left corner of the 18-yard box but Eagle goalkeeper Ralph was up to the task, punching the attempt back out. The Spartans’ Tebatso Manyama fired another solid shot towards the goal seconds later, but it sailed high.

 

In the second extra period, Ralph saved a Manyama blast in the 102^nd minute. GSU’s B.J. Reine countered with a chance of his own inside the box five minutes later, but this time, Berry dove to his right to preserve the shutout.

 

Each team attempted 16 shots in the match.

 

The finals appearance will be the fourth in a row for the Spartans who won the 2005 and ’06 championships before losing to Furman in the 2007 title match.

 

 

Semifinal 1: #5 College of Charleston 4, #1 Elon 1

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Davidson, N.C. ? Fifth-seeded College of Charleston rallied from a halftime deficit with four second half goals en route to a 4-1 win over No. 1 seed Elon in the first semifinal of the 2008 Southern Conference Men’s Soccer Championship at Alumni Stadium in Davidson, N.C.

 

Charleston (11-9-0, 3-4-0, SoCon) advances to the SoCon championship match Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. against either No. 3 seed Georgia Southern or No. 7 seed UNC Greensboro, which face off in Friday’s second semifinal match.

 

Elon (10-9-1, 7-0-0 SoCon) wasted little time gaining the advantage when SoCon Player of the Year Justin Wyatt headed a Erfan Imeni cross above the outstretched arms of Charleston keeper Clark Hankins just 4:18 into the match. The goal was the league-leading 13^th of the season for Wyatt.

 

The Phoenix were the aggressors for much of the first half, but the frame ended with Elon maintaining the 1-0 advantage on the scoreboard. Elon attempted nine first-half shots compared to the Cougars’ six.

 

Charleston’s Matt Morris drew a foul in the penalty area midway through the second half, and the referee awarded the Cougars with a penalty kick. Midfielder Sean Bateau converted for his first goal of the season to knot the match at 1-1 with 24:59 remaining.

 

Less than four minutes later, a flurry in front of the goal ended in an own goal for Charleston when Elon’s Will Mason inadvertently flicked a header into his own net while trying to clear a CofC cross. The Cougars led 2-1 with 22:16 remaining in the second half.

 

With Elon pressing for an equalizer, Charleston upped its advantage in the 79^th minute when Kareem Yearwood broke beyond the defense and collected a long ball from Steven Nagy. Yearwood blasted a shot in the lower right corner from 10 yards past a diving Kyle Boerner for his seventh goal of the year, giving the Cougars a 3-1 bulge.

 

The Cougars’ offensive onslaught continued when Matt Morris upped the lead to 4-1 one minute later in the 80^th minute. Morris collected a crossing pass at the six-yard box from Jake Helmig on the right side and blasted home his team-leading eighth tally of the season.

 

Charleston finished the match with a slight 15-14 advantage in shots. Hankins collected four saves for the Cougars while Boerner recorded one save for Elon.