Furman 5, USC Upstate 0
SPARTANBURG, S.C. ? Five different Paladins scored and Josh Zimmer and Maros Valko combined on a shutout as Furman blanked USC Upstate 5-0 Sunday afternoon at the Wofford/Nike Soccer Classic.
The victory improves Furman to 2-4-1 on the season while USC Upstate falls to 1-5-0.
Dane Roberts put the Paladins out in front in the 26th minute on a give-and-go with Coleton Henning. Roberts lined a 20-yard shot past the Spartan keeper for his first goal of the season. Curt McDonald doubled the lead at 43:44 on an assist from Caleb Suri to give the Paladins a 2-0 halftime lead.
Freshman Fabien Vorbe upped the lead to 3-0 with his third goal of the season in the 64th minute before Patrick Murray scored in the 82nd minute and assisted on Henning’s goal less than a minute later to cap the Paladins’ rout.
Furman outshot the Spartans 15-9, including 10-5 on shots on goal. Zimmer totaled two saves while Valko stopped three shots. Patrick Regna turned away five Furman shots for USC Upstate.
The Paladins return to Stone Stadium to host the South Carolina Gamecocks Wednesday. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
Georgia State 2, Wofford 0
SPARTANBURG, S.C. -- Wofford surrendered a goal early and another late as it dropped a 2-0 men's soccer decision to Georgia State in the final game of the Wofford/Nike Soccer Classic presented by Jimmy John's Sunday afternoon at Snyder Field in Spartanburg, S.C.
The game featured physical play by both squads and a total of 31 fouls. However, the Panthers, put their first mark on the board at 5:02 when Stephan Minyono played a long through ball down the right side to Ayokunle Lumpkin, who beat an on-coming Joey Taylor near the corner of the 18-yard box.
Both teams had chances during the middle part of the contest to find the back of the net. Sophomore Kentrel Owens had perhaps the best Wofford (4-4) opportunity with 24 minutes remaining when his shot from 35 yards away deflected off the upper right corner of the crossbar and post, and back into play.
Senior Phil Beene also had a good look at the net, but his shot was tipped high over the crossbar by Filipe Carvalho, the Panthers' keeper.
Georgia State (4-2-1) added to its lead with under two minutes remaining, at 88:21, as Jacob Hamilton sent a cross from the right side to Minyono, who placed it behind backup goalkeeper Thomas Hunter. Hunter had entered the contest for his first action this season just a little less than two minutes earlier after Taylor was injured.
Carvalho stopped seven Terrier shots for the shutout, while neither Wofford goalie recorded a save.
The Terriers will return to action when they travel to Nashville, Tenn., for a pair of matches beginning at 6 p.m. Eastern Friday against Belmont.
Winthrop 1, Davidson 0
CHARLOTTE, N.C. - The Davidson men’s soccer team was unable to overcome a late second-half goal by Winthrop, falling 1-0 in the finale of the Nike Invitational Tournament on Sunday afternoon at Charlotte’s Transamerica Field.
Following the match, Wildcat sophomores Alex Caskey and Yannick Pilgrim were named to the All-Tournament team due to their outstanding performances in the weekend’s two matches. Pilgrim scored the tying goal in Davidson’s 2-2 draw with UAB on Friday evening and took seven shots in the two matches. Caskey opened the scoring against UAB with his second goal of the season, and led the team with nine shots on the weekend, eight of which were on goal, also tops on the squad.
The two teams closed the first half scoreless, and almost even across the stat sheet. Davidson held a 7-6 advantage in total shots, and a 7-3 lead in corner kicks. Wildcat goalkeeper Robby Goldsberry recorded a pair of saves in goal in the opening frame, before sophomore Matt McElroy took over in net for the final 45 minutes. McElroy had three saves on the day.
Winthrop broke the scoreless tie in the 62nd minute when Miquel Casajuana collected a deflected shot and put the ball into the back of the net on the left side of McElroy, putting the Eagles up 1-0.
The ?Cats, showing the maturity they have displayed each time they’ve fallen behind in the past few matches, kept battling back after the goal, with their best chance coming when Caskey had a one-on-one opportunity to score, having his shot saved by the Winthrop goalkeeper.
“We played well and we played hard today,” said Davidson head coach Matt Spear. “It was a very close game that could have gone either way. We were not on the winning side this time, but I am still pleased with the effort."
Caskey had a game-high six shots overall, with five shots on goal. Junior Clinton Smith recorded a pair of shots, with Machel Turner, Charlie Reiter, and Pilgrim all contributing one attempt in the match.
Davidson will round out their current four-match road swing when they head down to Columbia, S.C. to take on SEC-power South Carolina on Saturday, Sept. 27. Kick off for the match between the Wildcats and Gamecocks is scheduled for 7 p.m.
Jacksonville 2, Georgia Southern 0
STATESBORO, Ga. - Georgia Southern falls to Jacksonville 2-0 in the second game of today’s doubleheader.
“I’m really disappointed. I felt like for the first 45 minutes we really didn’t compete. We fought back in the second half and did a lot of things well, but we have got to put together 90 minutes,” said Head Coach Kevin Kennedy.
Wesley Lartey scored both goals for the Dolphins. The first goal was scored in the 35th minute of play and the second was scored on a breakaway in the 79th minute of action.
Jon Cox, Sean Sandoval, Daniel Smith and Stephen George all took a shot on goal in today’s match.
Chris Cantrell made his first appearance of the season and started in goal for the Eagles. He made five saves in the match. Senior, B.J. Reine took a shot in the match.
The Eagles return to Eagle Field Wednesday to take on USC Upstate at 4 pm.