Davidson 4, No. 25 South Carolina 1
DAVIDSON, N.C. - A five-point night from Alex Caskey led the Davidson soccer team to a 4-1 victory over No. 25 South Carolina in front of 971 fans Friday night at Alumni Stadium.
South Carolina fell to 4-2-1, while the Wildcats extended their win streak to four and stand at 6-1 for the first time since 1990. The win avenged a 4-0 defeat last year to South Carolina and ended their four-game win streak against the 'Cats.
Junior Alex Caskey scored twice and assisted on the opening goal. Senior Charlie Reiter added three points to remain as the team's scoring leader with 13 points (4 goals, 5 assists).
"I'm just really proud of the team and the victory, but is all about the guys," said head coach Matt Spear. "They deserve it because they've trained hard and prepared well. We beat a very good team and are off to a great start."
"It mean's a lot that we were able to not only hold them to one goal, but that we were able to score on them, " added Caskey.
Reiter started the first scoring-play with a pass to Caskey, who dribbled the ball past the midfield line and sent a perfect place-ball to a streaking Pilgrim on the near-side of the field. Pilgrim broke free from a defender and dribbled into the left corner of the box, drilling a shot to the far-post over South Carolina goalkeeper Jimmy Maurer for an early 1-0 lead at 22:35.
Caskey extended the lead on a penalty kick near the close of the half. The play started when a South Carolina shot was blocked out to midfield and Reiter dribbled the ball all the way down to the 18-yard box in USC territory and dished the ball to Pilgrim. Pilgrim broke free from his defender and raced into the box, but was taken down from behind on a slide tackle, resulting in a penalty kick on which Caskey scored at 38:50 to give the 'Cats a 2-0 lead at halftime.
"We talked at halftime about not letting down and continuing to attack," said Spear. "Being able to get two more goals shows the confidence, maturity and composure of this team."
At 16:05 into the second-half, Caskey struck again, heading in a corner kick from Reiter.
South Carolina's Mike Lindsay narrowed Davidson's margin with a goal with 16:52 remaining, but Reiter restored the 'Cats three-goal advantage with nine minutes remaining in the contest. Mark Millard started the play, dribbling down to the goal line on the near side and playing a cross into the six-yard box .The ball slipped past Pilgrim, who distracted the goalkeeper, and Reiter came sliding into the box and slipped the ball in on the far post.
South Carolina outshot Davidson 16-11, but both teams were even with five shots on net apiece. Wildcat goalkeeper Chip Sanders made four saves while Maurer made one.
"I thought we did great defensively and were very organized the whole game," said defenseman Greg Macnamara. "It was a great team effort."
Davidson's next match will be against the College of Charleston to open Southern Conference play. Game time is set for 7 p.m. at Alumni Stadium on Wednesday.
"I told the guys that they should celebrate this win because it is a great victory for them and Davidson, but tomorrow it is back to work for conference play," said Spear. "It is going to be very challenging and exciting."
Furman 3, Lipscomb 0
GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Three different Paladins scored goals and Coleton Henning added two assists as Furman downed Lipscomb 3-0 in non-conference men's soccer action before a crowd of 702 Friday evening at Stone Soccer Stadium.
With the victory, Furman improved to 3-2-2 on the season and ran its unbeaten streak to four matches. The Paladins also improved to 3-0-1 at home this season. Lipscomb dipped to 3-4-1 on the season.
Furman scored the first of two first half goals at the 32:04 mark as Henning chipped a long ball over the Bisons' defense to Debola Ogunseye who dribbled around the Lipscomb keeper and deposited his fourth goal of the season. Less than four minutes later, Henning executed a give-and-go with Warren Creavalle who bested the keeper with a low, driven shot to put the Paladins ahead 2-0 at the 35:40 mark.
Ogunseye set up Furman's final goal less than five minutes after the restart. The senior played a centering pass to Fabien Vorbe at the top of the box and the Haitian international slotted a shot to the righthand corner to up the margin to 3-0 at 49:50.
Furman managed an 8-7 edge in shot attempts, including 6-3 advantage on shots on goal. Sophomore Alec Kann saved three shots before Maros Valko entered the match in the final 15 minutes. Patrick Walsh took the loss in goal for Lipscomb while stopping three shots.
Furman returns to action Sunday afternoon when it hosts Atlantic-Sun Conference member Belmont at 1 p.m. at Stone Stadium. Lipscomb travels to Wofford on Sunday afternoon.
Wofford 2, Belmont 1 (OT)
SPARTANBURG, S.C. - The Wofford College men's soccer team defeated Belmont 2-1 in overtime on Friday evening at Snyder Field. Both teams scored a goal in the second half, but Wofford added the winner at 94:29 in overtime on a shot by Yakov Rubinchik.
Wofford moves to 3-0-2 on the season, while the Bruins are 1-5-1. The Terriers had a 13 to 4 lead on shots in the contest. Branson Hyatt had assists on both goals for Wofford, while Paulo Bonfim led the team with three shots.
The Bruins had the ball for the first couple minutes, however the possession changed over to the Terriers for the next twenty minutes of play. Wofford had the first shot of the game at 2:34 by Wilson Hood, and added the next two shots. Belmont had a chance at 24:06 when had a shot that was saved by Thomas Hunter.
A shot by Moe Kelli from the right side of the box went just over the crossbar at 25:38, but Belmont responded with a shot from just three minutes later. The Terriers added shots from Andrew Eppelsheimer and Kentrel Owens in the last eight minutes of play, but both shots were high.
In the second half, Wofford was able to get on the scoreboard at 55:10 when Branson Hyatt took a shot and it deflected in front of the goal where Nick Schuermann was able to chip the ball into the right corner of the net. Belmont answered at the 70:52 mark when Justin Ferguson fed a loose ball inside the box to Dan Meacock. Meacock found the back of the net to tie the game at 1-1.
After the first ninety minutes ended, the score was still tied and the game headed to overtime. The Terriers had two corners in the first four minutes of extra time. After the second corner, Branson Hyatt fed the ball back outside to Yakov Rubinchik who fired a shot into the top right corner of the net from 25 yards out to end the game at 94:29.
Heavy rain fell for the final seven minutes of the first half, however the rain ended by the beginning of the second half. Wofford was called for 12 fouls to Belmont's 14. The Bruins were whistled for four yellow cards in the match, all in the second half.
For the Terriers, goalie Thomas Hunter made two saves and had one goal against. Bruins' goalie Wes Wray had two goals against and did not make a save. The Terriers had ten corner kicks, while Belmont did not have a corner in the game.
The Terriers, winners of three straight, will remain at home for a contest on Sunday, September 27 at 2:00 pm against Lipscomb as part of the annual South Carolina/Tennessee Challenge. Belmont will play at Furman on Sunday.
Appalachian State 3, Mercer 0
BOONE, N.C. - Appalachian State University men's soccer scored two goals in the first 26 minutes on their way to defeating Mercer 3-0 Friday night at Appalachian Soccer Stadium.
The Mountaineers even up their record heading into conference play at 4-4-1 while Mercer fell to 1-4-2.
Appalachian struck early as Arie Muniz knocked home a rebound off a Tyler Regan shot to give the Apps a 1-0 lead just seven minutes in. The goal was Muniz's SoCon leading fifth of the season and Regan's SoCon leading fourth assist of the season.
The Mountaineers tacked on another goal in the 26th minute when Mark Bridges played a long ball down the right side to Regan, who dribbled past two defenders before knocking it past Mercer keeper Brett Petricek.
Sean Dreybus ended the night with perhaps the nicest goal, as he took an indirect kick from Steven Sassano and headed it past Petricek.
Appalachian dominated the match, especially in the first half, outshooting the Bears 11-2.
The Apps open SoCon play on Wednesday night when they host Wofford at 7 p.m.
Stetson 5, College of Charleston 4 (2OT)
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - The No. 26 College of Charleston men's soccer team dropped a heartbreaker to Stetson on Friday evening, losing 5-4 in double overtime in game one of the 2009 JU/NIKE Invitational.
With the loss, the Cougars dropped to 6-2 on the year, while Stetson improved to 6-0 with the win. Charleston returns to the pitch on Sunday, Sept. 27th when they take on host Jacksonville beginning at 2:30.
In the first half, Stetson got on the board first in the 15th minute, as Kevin Munz scored. From there, the Cougars dominated play the rest of the half, as three separate Cougars registered goals. First, Branko Gavric scored to knot the game up at one in the 26th minute, unassisted.
In the 28th minute, George Khoury scored his second goal of the season off a Zach Prince cross, then in the 39th minute, Andrew Autenzio scored from five yards out to make the score 3-1. The Cougars took the 3-1 lead into the half and outshot the Hatters 16-6 in the first period.
In the second half, Stetson made a frantic comeback, as Gonzalo De Mujica scored in the 65th minute to make it 3-2. Just three minutes later, the Hatters tied the game up at three when Muiz scored his second goal of the night.
This set the stage for the final two minutes of regulation. In the 88th minute, Steven Nagy scored an unassisted goal on what appeared to be the game-winner, as the Cougars took a 4-3 lead with under a minute left. Stetson's Robert Hodge, however, scored the tying goal with 48 seconds left in regulation to knot the score at four and send the game into overtime.
After both teams went scoreless in the first overtime, Stetson took the match four minutes into the second on an own goal, as the Hatters remained unbeaten with the wild, come from behind victory.
Overall, the Cougars outshot the Hatters 22-18 and held a 10-4 advantage in corner kicks on the night.