College of Charleston 2, Ohio State 1
MT. PLEASANT, S.C. --- A goal by Zach Prince in the 80th minute was the difference, as the College of Charleston's men's soccer team defeated No. 10 Ohio State in front of a crowd of 1,015 at Patriots Point Soccer Stadium. The game was apart of the 2008 Aaron Olitsky/Nike Soccer Classic.
With the win, the Cougars move to 3-2-0 on the year, while Ohio State drops to 3-1-1.
"When a team comes back they way we did tonight, it shows the type of character you have," said head coach Ralph Lundy. "This is just a great win against a great Ohio State team. It's a great victory for our program and this is a night I will always remember."
In the first half, both the Cougars and the Buckeyes had numerous scoring chances, only to have the defensive units of each team stop every attempt. The stellar defensive efforts by both teams led the game to remain scoreless into the half.
In the second half, Ohio State broke the scoreless tie in the 60th minute after Buckeye Danny Irizarry headed in a goal off a free kick from Andrew Magill.
After Charleston had another scoring attempt stopped, Matt Morris headed in a goal of his own in between a crowd of Buckeye defenders to knot the game up. Jake Helmig was credited with an assist on the play.
It was then that Prince took center stage. In the 80th minute, Ohio State was charged with a foul. Then, Prince took the ball from an official, dribbled past several Ohio State defenders and successfully fired the game-winner into the left corner of the net, causing a wild celebration on the field by the Charleston players.
"After our last game against Bowling Green, Matt's (Morris) dad came up to me and said that the next goal I scored would be an important one," said Prince. "That line really gave me a lot of confidence coming into the game tonight."
From there, the Cougars hung on to record to record their biggest win of the season. Goalie Brendan Smith was awarded the win, after making five saves in goal for Charleston.
The Cougars will return to action on Sunday to conclude the 2008 Aaron Olitsky/Nike Soccer Classic when they take on Brown at 2:30 p.m. at Patriots Point. In the first game of the day, Ohio State takes on Furman at noon.
Wofford 1, VMI 0
LEXINGTON, Va. -- Wofford junior defender Branson Hyatt scored a goal in the first half and senior goalkeeper Joey Taylor kept host VMI off the board in a 1-0 Terriers victory in men’s soccer action Friday afternoon in Lexington, Va.
The Terriers held a 17-7 shot advantage during the 90 minutes, but Hyatt’s attempt in the 23rd minute was the only one for either team to find the back of the net. He fired a shot towards the Keydet cage, which a VMI (0-2) defender attempted to stop with his head, but the shot ricocheted off the defender into the net at 22:04.
Freshman Bryan Eddy led all players with three shots, while Hyatt was one of six from Wofford (3-2) to post two shots on the board. Will Quarles and Josh Sisco topped the Keydets with two attempts apiece.
Taylor finished with three saves, matching the effort of VMI’s Brian Sowell. The shutout was the 10th of his career, moving him within three of tying the school record held by Will King (1990-93).
The Terriers will return to action when they open Southern Conference action at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Elon in Elon, N.C.
UNC Greensboro 3, East Tennessee State 1
ELON, N.C. ? UNC Greensboro exploded for three goals in the second half, including a goal and an assist by Jokull Elisabetarson, to record its first victory of the season, 3-1, over East Tennessee State in Friday evening’s first match of the Elon Men's Soccer Tournament.
After a scoreless first half, the Spartans (1-3-0) got on the board quickly in the second half. Just 4:30 into the second half, Sven Picton played a ball through the defense to Matt Strine. Strine hit a low liner from the 18 yard line past the keeper for his first tally of the season and a 1-0 lead.
The score remained that way until Elisabetarson connected on a penalty kick in the 77th minute. It was his second goal of the season, both coming on penalty kicks.
East Tennessee State (2-2-0) cut the deficit in half with 11:30 to play.
Andrew Brown’s corner kick was headed into the goal by Jaron Westbrook to make it a 2-1 game. But that was the only mistake of the night UNCG keeper Chad Dickerson made in his first career start. Dickerson made three saves for UNCG in earning the win. Dickerson, a fifth-year senior from Mooresville, NC had played just six games totaling 135 minutes in his career before Friday night.
UNCG put the game away at 81:53 when Tim Masters scored his first goal of the season off a feed from Elisabetarson. Elisabetarson, a senior from Reykjavik, Iceland, leads the team with six points this season on two goals and two assists.
The Spartans, who outshot the Bucs 15-12, will face UNC Asheville on Sunday at 1 pm.
Elon 1, UNC Asheville 0
ELON, N.C. -- The Elon Phoenix had to go to extra time, but earned its first victory of the season with a 1-0 decision over the UNC Asheville Bulldogs in game two of the inaugural Elon Classic men's soccer tournament. In game one, the UNC Greensboro Spartans also claimed their first victory of the year with a 3-1 win over East Tennessee State.
The first half of Elon's contest saw the Phoenix (1-2-1) out-shoot the Bulldogs (0-2-0) 8-3 overall and 2-0 on goal. Elon also held an edge in total shots (8-5) in the second 45 minutes. That half, both teams put three attempts on frame, but could not score.
In overtime, each team took one shot. The one from Elon's Justin Wyatt decided the contest as he netted his first goal of the season 5:04 into the overtime period. Wyatt's score was set up when Stephen Dilger played a ball down the line to Aaron Parker. Parker beat his defender and when the Bulldog keeper came out to take away the angle, Parker crossed the ball to the feet of Wyatt at the other end of the goal mouth. Wyatt then deposited his sixth career game-winner.
Elon's Clint Irwin logged most of the minutes in goal, lasting 88:03 before being replaced by Kyle Boerner. Boerner earned the win and played 7:01. Irwin made all three saves for the Phoenix.
Lassi Hurskainen went the distance for UNCA, stopping five Elon attempts before allowing Wyatt's tally.
The Phoenix out-shot the Bulldogs 17-9 overall and 6-3 on goal. Elon also edged UNCA in corner kicks (13-3) and committed fewer fouls (10-19). The Bulldogs were whistled for four offsides infractions.
On Sunday, the teams will finish off the Elon Classic beginning at 1 p.m. The first match will feature UNCG and UNCA before Elon takes on East Tennessee State at 3:30 p.m. from Rudd Field.
Appalachian State 1, Gardner-Webb 0 (2OT)
ROCK HILL, S.C.- Antonio Harley scored with 2.8 seconds left in the second overtime to give Appalachian State a 1-0 win over Gardner-Webb Friday evening at Winthrop.
With 16 seconds remaining in the second overtime, Sean Dreybus played a long ball down the left side. Arie Muniz beat his defender to the ball and took a shot that went past the Gardner-Webb goalkeeper but hit the left post. The ball bounced toward the center of the goal where Harley put it in the back of the net setting off a celebration to the right of the goal.
The Mountaineers had plenty of chances to score before their last second heroics outshooting Gardner-Webb 17-4. Early in the first half Muniz got a pass from Juan Obregon from 15 yards out just missing the net wide left. A few minutes later Chris Treible fed Ryan Maloney from the right side when Maloney also missed wide left.
Gardner-Webb's best chance to get on the board came in the first few minutes when Taylor Jordan got free on a breakaway but Collin Taylor came out to make the save. That was the only save of the night for Taylor as the Bulldogs only managed four shots.
In the second overtime Appalachian had chances but headers by Dreybus and Treible just missed the net.
Appalachian is off to a 3-0 start and plays at Winthrop on Sunday at 2:30 p.m. in the second game of the Winthrop Classic.
Brown 1, Furman 0
CHARLESTON, S.C. ? David Walls scored on a deflection off of Furman goalkeeper Josh Zimmer in the 65th minute to lift 12th-ranked Brown to a 1-0 victory over Furman in the opening game of the Nike/Aaron Olitsky Memorial Classic in Charleston, S.C.
The loss dropped Furman to 1-3-0 on the season while the Brown Bears upped their record to 2-1-0.
Each team attempted six shots with Furman holding a 4-2 edge in shots on goal. Jarrett Leech made four saves to record the shutout for the Bears.
Zimmer stopped one shot for the Paladins.
Furman faces 16th-ranked Ohio State at noon on Sunday followed by Brown versus the College of Charleston in the Nike/Aaron Olitsky Classic finale.