UNCG 3, Appalachian State 0
GREENSBORO, N.C. - UNCG's Trey Johnson scored just 24 seconds before halftime and swung the momentum as the Spartans downed Appalachian State, 3-0, to extend their unbeaten streak to six consecutive matches and keep the possibility of a SoCon regular season title alive.
Should the Spartans beat Furman on Saturday night and College of Charleston and Appalachian State tie on Saturday, UNCG could have a share of the title in either a two-way or three-way tie. Furman would still have a game remaining against Wofford the following week and could forge it into a three-way tie.
"That's a good win against a good Appalachian State team," said interim head coach Justin Maullin. "They had us in the first half and we were struggling to play. It was messy and it was scrappy. We were very fortunate to come out of that half with a lead with the way they had played.
"We preached this whole week to the guys to just give themselves a chance to play for a championship on Saturday," said Maullin. "We'll know the Appalachian State-College of Charleston score before we hit the field Saturday night and we'll know if that's a possibility for us. We've controlled what we can control to this point. We can't control what they do on Saturday, but at least we've given ourselves an opportunity."
Johnson after a blocked shot caromed to him. Eric Carrion's shot went off a defender and deflected to Johnson. Johsno blasted it after one dribble for his first collegiate tally and a 1-0 lead with just 24 seconds remaining before intermission.
"That was a big goal," said Maullin. "Appalachian State was on top of us and that kind of turned things for us."
Hakan Ilhan scored his team-leading seventh goal of the season and Adam Shore added his fifth goal of the year as the Spartans stretched the lead in the second half. Ilhan's tally came after a long pass by Ross Burki got Ilhan some space in the right corner of the box. Ilhan then hit a blast into the top left corner of the next for a 2-0 lead with 26:37 to play.
Shore made it 3-0 a little over five minutes later. Matt Strine lifted a ball over the defense and into space. Shore ran it down and shot it from almost the same spot on the field as Ilhan's tally.
The win ran UNCG's record to 8-5-3 overall, 3-1-2 in SoCon play. The Spartans are unbeaten in their last six matches, going 4-0-2 in that span. Appalachian State fell to 7-6-2 overall, 4-2-0 in SoCon play, but still has a chance to claim a SoCon regular season title with a win at College of Charleston on Saturday and a Furman loss. The Mountaineers and Paladins could also share the title if Furman had a win and tie in its last two matches, coupled with an Appalachian State win in Charleston.
Wrapped up in all of that scenario, as well, is the battle for home field advantage in the conference tournament's quarterfinal round. With the top four teams hosting a quarterfinal match on the weekend of November 6, five teams are separated by just three points. Elon, also in the mix with 10 points at 3-2-1, can't win the regular season title, but is heavily in contention for a home field slot. The Phoenix still face Georgia Southern on the road Friday.
Ilhan now has 20 points on the season with seven goals and six assists. He is the first Spartan since Thomas Campbell in 2007 to surpass the 20-point mark in a season.
UNCG will travel to face Furman at 7 p.m. Saturday night while ASU is at College of Charleston Saturday at 2 p.m.
Davidson 1, Georgia Southern 1 (2 OT)
DAVIDSON, N.C. - The Davidson men's soccer team created a myriad of scoring opportunities, but freshman Alex Givens was the only Wildcat to find the back of the net as Davidson tied Georgia Southern, 1-1 in Southern Conference action Tuesday night in Alumni Stadium.
Davidson (5-5-6, 1-3-3 SoCon) had the advantage in offensive pressure, outshooting Georgia Southern (3-9-3, 0-5-1 SoCon), 28-9 advantage, including a 5-0 advantage in the category in the two overtime periods. However, Luigi Clendening found open space down the middle in the 83rd minute, and eluded the Wildcat defense to score from 10 yards out to equalize the game at 1-1, sending Davidson to their record seventh overtime game of the season.
Seniors Alex Caskey (Dunwoody, Ga.) and Yannick Pilgrim (Arima, Trinidad & Tobago) created the scoring opportunity for Givens late in the first half, as Pilgrim directed a pass from Caskey with one touch to Givens as he streaked towards the 18-yard box in the middle of the pitch. Givens then buried his shot in the back of the net in the 43rd minute for his first career goal.
Davidson's sixth draw of the season is a program record as they remained undefeated in extra time with their lone win coming at Gardner-Webb.
Goalkeeper Neal Bates made eight saves for Georgia Southern, while junior Chip Sanders (Thomasville, Ga.) made six stops for the Wildcats.
Caskey led Davidson with four shots while four different Wildcats had three.
The game concluded Davidson's Southern Conference regular season slate. The Wildcats will place sixth out of eight teams with their first-round opponent to be determined pending the completion of the rest of the league's schedule.
The 'Cats will return to action Saturday night in Alumni Stadium to take on Presbyterian in a match set to start at 7 p.m.
The Eagles host Elon Friday at 3 p.m. in their regular season finale.
Wake Forest 2, Elon 1 (OT)
ELON, N.C. - Elon outshot the visitors 19-10, but it was Wake Forest's Kyle Adams who headed in the lone shot in overtime to lift the Demon Deacons to a 2-1 victory over the Phoenix in non-conference men's soccer action from Rudd Field on Tuesday night. The Phoenix (6-5-5) suffered its second straight overtime loss in its eighth extra minute game of the season. Wake Forest ended a four-match winless stretch to improve to 6-7-2 on the year.
Adams headed home his first goal of the season from a Ben Newman free kick on the deep left side of the field in the 94th minute of action.
After a scoreless first half, the Deacons got on the board first, netting a goal at the 60th minute. Kyle Emerson sent a corner kick to the far post where Luca Gimenez headed in his fourth goal of the season into the right upper 90 to give Wake the 1-0 advantage.
The Wake Forest goal seemed to spark the Phoenix and Elon sent a barrage of shots on goal in the ensuing minutes. James Carroll's blast sailed just high of the net and then a second shot by Carroll careened off the post. Chris Thomas tried for the rebound goal, but his shot ricocheted off the corner of the post.
Midway through the second half, Carroll served a great ball into the box, but Stephen Dilger's short shot was saved by WFU keeper Akira Fitzgerald. Finally in the 75th minute, Elon managed to get the equalizer. Senior midfielder Brad Franks sent a ball in the box from the left side of the field. Defender Austen King sailed high to head in his second score of the season and knot the score at 1-1.
Elon nearly got the go-ahead goal a few minutes later when a Gabe Latigue header went just high of the goal. Neither team could find the back of the net in regulation, sending the contest to an extra session.
The Phoenix almost put a goal on the board with 15 minutes gone by in the first half. Midfielder Nick Millington rocketed a shot from about 23 yards out that skimmed the top of the left side of the crossbar. With under four minutes before the break, Elon pressured the Wake back line, getting off several attempts at the net. The best opportunity came off the foot of Lovitz who forced Fitzgerald to stretch out to punch away the bullet from the left side of the field.
The Elon defense did its job in the first 45 minutes, blocking away several Wake attempts, including a free kick from the top of the box midway through the half.
Elon held a 19-10 shot advantage and a slight 4-3 edge in corner kicks. Fitzgerald finished with five saves while Phoenix goalie Reed Dillard made two stops.
Elon will play its final Southern Conference game of the regular season when it battles Georgia Southern in Statesboro, Ga. on Friday at 3 p.m.
Duke 4, Furman 0
Durham, N.C. - Cole Grossman scored a pair of goals to lead the Duke Blue Devils to a 4-0 victory over Furman in the non-conference finale for both teams on Tuesday night in Durham, N.C.
The win, Duke's fifth shutout of the season, improved the Blue Devils to 7-4-4 overall while Furman slipped to 7-5-4.
Matthew Thomas put the Blue Devils in front with the eventual match-winning tally at 12:43. Sebastian Ibeagha headed a pass to Andrew Wenger who headed into the path of Thomas for the strike from inside the six-yard box.
Grossman doubled the lead with his first of two goals at 35:50. Chris Tweed-Kent, who assisted on each of Duke's final three goals, sent a cross from the left flank and Grossman poked a shot past Furman goalkeeper Alec Kann.
In the 84th minute, Grossman bagged his second of the night taking a pass from Tweed-Kent and firing a 17-yard effort into the back of the net for his sixth goal of the season. Ryan Finley capped the scoring just 29 seconds later at 84:09 beating Kann on a one-versus-one with the Paladins keeper after receiving a pass from Tweed-Kent.
The Blue Devils outshot Furman 22-10, including holding a 12-4 edge in shots on goal. James Belshaw notched the shutout for Duke while totaling four saves. Belshaw denied Nathan Wagner on a header just before intermission and prevented the Paladins from trimming the Blue Devils 2-0 lead when he made a diving save on Michael Channell's 14-yard strike midway through the second half.
Kann notched seven saves in the loss for the Paladins.
Furman returns home on Saturday night to host UNC Greensboro on Senior Night in the Paladins' regular season home finale. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. on Eugene Stone III Soccer Stadium.