College of Charleston 2, Old Dominion 0
MT. PLEASANT, S.C. - John Bello and Kareem Yearwood scored goals, as the College of Charleston men's soccer team defeated Old Dominion 2-0 in the finale of the 2009 NIKE/Aaron Olitsky Memorial Soccer Classic on Sunday.
With the win, the Cougars improved to 3-0 on the season and captured the Olitsky Memorial for the second consecutive year. Old Dominion fell to 2-1 with the loss. In the day's first game, Air Force defeated Furman 2-1.
Charleston returns to the pitch on Friday, Sept. 11 when they take on North Florida at the Furman Diadora/Spinx Invitational at 4 p.m.
"Anyone that saw this match today realized how good of a team Old Dominion is," said head coach Ralph Lundy. "We had to step up and play at another level to win and we did just that. I'm proud of the entire team, especially with how hard we fought for 90 minutes."
In the first half, Charleston got on the scoreboard in the 22nd minute, as Bello registered his second goal of the season off a deflection by Old Dominion goalie Evan Newton. The Cougars held on to the lead into the half, as they outshot the Monarchs 5-1 in the period.
In the second half, Charleston continued to control the pace of play and registered an insurance goal in the 81st minute, as Yearwood scored his second goal of the year. Matt Morris recorded an assist on the play, as Yearwood scored from two yards out.
Overall, Charleston outshot Old Dominion 11-6. Cougar goalie Clark Hankins registered his second straight shutout victory after making two saves in between the pipes for Charleston.
In the day's first game, Air Force scored two goals in the first half and hung on over the final minutes to win. With the victory, Air Force improved to 1-1, while Furman fell 1-2.
For the tournament, Cougar defender Sean Flately was named the Hertz, McKay, Magel MVP award, which is named for three Marine Corps Pilots who were killed serving their country during the Vietnam War. Also, four Cougars were voted to the All-Tournament team, Yearwood, Branko Gavric, Zach Prince and Shawn Ferguson.
Northern Illinois 4, UNC Greensboro 1
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. ? A. J. Nelson scored his first collegiate goal, but Northern Illinois scored four unanswered tallies the rest of the way, including a pair by Brad Horton, to defeat UNC Greensboro, 4-1, in men’s soccer action at the Carolina Nike Classic on Sunday afternoon.
Nelson scored at 14:28 off a feed from Matt Strine. Strine played a ball through the box to Nelson, who finished it off at the far post for a 1-0 Spartan advantage.
Horton tied the game nearly four minutes later on a penalty kick. Brad Bahr then gave the Huskies (1-1-1) a 2-1 lead at 28:05 when he tucked a deflection just inside of the far post for his first goal of the season.
Ben Thomas made it a 3-1 game midway through the second half. Engebreth Faerden played a ball just past the Spartan backfield and Thomas won the race, knocking it inside the back post.
Horton closed out the scoring at 77:20 when he gathered a loose ball in the box and volleyed it past goalkeeper Peyton Ford for his second tally of the season.
Northern Illinois outshot the Spartans (0-2-0), 19-3. Ford, making his first collegiate appearance, had nine saves on the afternoon.
The Spartans return home to face Marshall on Friday night as part of the UNCG Kickoff Classic. Game time is set for 7:30 p.m. The first game of the doubleheader will have Elon facing Longwood at 5 p.m.
Air Force 2, Furman 1
MT. PLEASANT, S.C. -- Air Force netted a pair of first half goals and held off a late Furman rally to down the Paladins 2-1 on Sunday afternoon at the Nike/Aaron Olitsky Memorial Classic at Patriots Point Athletics Complex in Mt. Pleasant, S.C.
Josh Rhynard put Air Force on the board in the 10th minute and Aaron Eshkenazi scored on an assist from Zane Dydasco in the 37th minute to give the Falcons a 2-0 lead at intermission.
Furman turned up the pressure in the second half and drew a penalty kick just past the hour mark, but Debola Ogunseye’s shot from the spot missed. Ogunseye fed Eric Cobleigh who put Furman on the board with his first goal of the season at 62:01, but the Paladins could not find the equalizer despite outshooting Air Force 8-3 in the second half.
Both teams recorded 12 shots while Air Force took a 5-2 advantage on corner kicks. Jim Gullo stopped five shots to earn the win in net for the Falcons. Furman’s Maros Valko, filling in for Alec Kann who received a red card on Friday, recorded five saves in the loss.
Furman returns to Stone Soccer Stadium to host the Diadora/Spinx Furman Invitational next weekend. The Paladins face Florida Gulf Coast at 7 p.m. on Friday before entertaining North Florida at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday.
Central Florida 2, Georgia Southern 1
ORLANDO, Fla. - Senior Danny Hall cut UCF's lead to one goal at the 54 minute mark, but the Eagles were unable to tie the match, dropping the finale of the UCF Fall Classic to UCF 2-1.
The Knights (2-1) scored twice in the first half to take a 2-0 advantage at the half. Gianni Piccoletti placed a shot from the right side of the penalty box at the 15 minute mark. The second goal for the Knights came minutes later after a header rebounded off of the cross bar. Benjamin Hunt controlled the rebound and drove it in for the second goal.
The Eagles (0-2) came out attacking in the second half and got an early goal from Hall off of a penalty kick in the 54th minute. Georgia Southern saw five of their six corner kicks come in the second half.
Witt Carlisle just missed tying the game twice. His first attempt was a header in the 73rd minute and his second hit the crossbar in the 77th minute of play.
Joey Ralph tied a career high with nine saves. Ralph previously recorded nine saves in the SoCon Tournament against UNC Greensboro. Six of his saves came in the second half as he and the Eagles' defense kept the Knights off of the scoreboard.
Matt Crowell and Jon Cox both recorded two shots on goal.
The Eagles will play their first home match of the season Tuesday against Campbell at 4 p.m.