Furman 2, Wofford 1
SPARTANBURG, S.C. - Furman scored two goals in the second half to overcome the one goal lead Wofford had established in the first half, winning the game 2-1, and wrapping up a share of its 19th Southern Conference men's soccer championship.
Alex Hutchins scored the first goal of the match, giving Wofford a 1-0 lead heading into halftime, but Furman's Caleb Suri was able to answer with a goal off a penalty kick in the second half to tie the game. Furman's Josh Fusan scored the winning goal to push the Paladins past the Terriers. C
oach Polson's team ends the regular season with a 3-10-3 record and a 1-6 standing in the Southern Conference. The Paladins close their regular season with an 8-6-4 record and a 4-1-2 Southern Conference record.
The win will put the Paladins at the No. 2 seed, right behind UNC Greensboro. The Terriers stay at the No. 7 seed, forcing the two rivals to face each other again this Sunday at Furman University. The match is set to start at 7:00 p.m.
Before the match started, the 2010 seniors were honored at center field for their contributions to the men's soccer program. Frank Dineen, Wilson Hood, Armin Kinigadner, Paulo Bonfim, Kentrel Owens, Logan Threadgill, Randy McLeod, Alexander Drummond, Andrew Eppelsheimer, and Scott Redding took to Snyder Field for the last time in their career.
Furman was able to press the Terrier net first, having a threatening shot fired off by Danny Hojaij in the 14th minute that was punched away by Wofford's Andrew Drennan. Following the Furman attempt, Wofford took control of the offensive possession, pressing forward four different attacks from Terrier players. Two attempts were saved by Furman's Alec Kann and the others missed wide.
Alex Hutchins took advantage of a Wofford counter-attack set up by Randy McLeod in the 39th minute. Hutchins took a deflected ball on the foot and bent a ball toward the low right corner, giving the Terriers a 1-0 lead and giving the sophomore forward his second score of the season.
Wofford and Furman shared six shots apiece in the first half. Furman's goalkeeper, Kann grabbed two saves in the first 45 and Wofford's Andrew Drennan handled three saves.
Furman scored the tying goal in the 65th minute, off a penalty kick. Wofford committed a foul in the box, awarding the Paladins the penalty kick. Furman's Caleb Suri took a stutter step then sent the ball to the left side-netting to give Furman the equalizer at 1-1.
Eight minutes later, Furman's Walker Jernigan pressed an attack forward from the right side of the field. He sent a lob in from about 35 yards out and found teammate Josh Fusan. Fusan lined up the shot and knocked in the goal to give the Paladins a 2-1 lead. The score was Fusan's first of the season.
Wofford attempted to tie the game, with their best opportunity coming late in the second half. Hutchins nearly scored his second goal of the match, lifting a shot up that hit off a Furman player and trickled toward the goal line. The ball seemed inches from being a score, but a Furman defender was able to clear the ball out before the linesman could award it a goal.
When regulation was called, the game ended 2-1. Both teams shared nine shots apiece. Wofford hit four shots on target compared to Furman's six. Drennan was able to grab four saves, while Kann had three.
Elon 3, Radford 1
ELON, N.C. - Back-to-back Gabe Latigue goals followed by a senior-to-senior connection lifted the Elon men's soccer team to a 3-1 victory over the Radford Highlanders in the final game of the regular season from Rudd Field on Friday night. After Latigue put the Phoenix ahead with his second goal in a seven-minute span, senior Greg Mader connected with classmate Stephen Dilger to tack on a third score and secure the Elon (8-5-5) victory and ensure a fifth consecutive winning season on Senior Night. Radford dropped to 6-7-3 on the season.
"It is good to get a win in the final home game of the season against a very well-coached Radford team who fought very well having played a game last night," commented Elon head coach Darren Powell. "It is always positive that all the seniors could play and to see them contribute and combine on goals as well. Now we will look forward to postseason play."
The Phoenix got off to a slow start in the first 45 minutes of action, registering only four shots and allowing the visitors to get on the board in the 25th minute. Radford's Camden Brown sent a shot from the left side of the field on goal where Phoenix keeper Reed Dillard blocked it away, but Iyiola Awosika was there for the rebound score to give the Highlanders the lead with his team-leading eighth goal of the year.
Elon's best chance of the first half came with under 10 minutes to go before the break when sophomore forward Chris Thomas drilled a shot from the far left side of the field. Radford goalie Joey Dennis leaned right to make one of his five saves on the night.
Down a score to start the second half, Latigue got the equalizer in the 65th minute of play. Senior Brad Franks dribbled deep down the left side of the field, beating his defender and crossing a perfect ball into the box where Latigue buried his fifth goal of the season from about 10 yards out.
The sophomore wasted little time getting the go-ahead goal for the Phoenix in the 72nd minute, taking a short pass from Denzel Ogunyase on the right side of the field and blasting a shot into the far upper 90 from about 20 yards out over the outstretched hands of Dennis. Latigue has three game-winning goals this season and is second on the team with six strikes and 14 points.
In the 79th minute, Elon added to its advantage when Mader touched the ball forward to Dilger in the middle of the box. Dennis came out of the net and Dilger slipped the ball straight into the back of the net for his second goal of the season. The points were the first of Mader's career.
"It was an awesome feeling," Mader said about his assist. "It was good to go out like that after four years of hard work and in front of many family and friends."
Elon held an 18-7 advantage in the shot column, racking up 14 attempts in the second half. The Phoenix also took the 4-3 edge in corner kicks.
Elon also learned its fate for the first round of the Southern Conference Tournament which begins this weekend. The Phoenix earned the No. 5 seed in the tournament and will travel to Boone, N.C. for a rematch with Appalachian State. The Mountaineers came out with a 2-1 double overtime victory in the regular-season meeting on Oct. 23. Game time is set for 3 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 6.
UNCG 1, Longwood 1 (2 OT)
LONGWOOD, Va. - Hakan Ilhan scored with 1:43 left in regulation time as UNCG rallied to forge a 1-1 tie at Longwood in men's soccer action Tuesday night.
Ilhan's tally, his team-leading eighth of the season, extended UNCG's unbeaten streak to eight consecutive matches (5-0-3). The Spartans raised their mark to 9-5-4 overall on the season.
The match was physical with seven yellow cards are 43 fouls whistled, 27 of the fouls going against the host Lancers.
Longwood had gained a 1-0 lead nearly 15 minutes into the second half. A long throw-in by Nick Surkamp was knocked home by Harvey Headley for the first tally of the night.
With time winding down inside of two minutes left in regulation, Ross Burki's pass from the right side found Ilhan. The sophomore from Stuttgart, Germany struck it from 10 yards out. The ball hit the crossbar and bounced into the goal to tie the match.
The score stayed that way through overtime as Peyton Ford finished with three saves for UNCG. Joel Helmick was tested often by the Spartans, who held a 16-9 advantage in shots. Helmick had seven saves for the Lancers (2-11-4) to salvage their senior night.
UNCG will open Southern Conference Tournament play in the quarterfinal round next Saturday night at UNCG Soccer Stadium. The top-seeded Spartans will host eighth-seeded Georgia Southern for a 7 p.m. match.
Wake Forest 2, Davidson 0
DAVIDSON, N.C. - Wake Forest tallied a goal in each half to defeat Davidson, 2-0, in non-conference men's soccer action Tuesday night in front of 1,316 fans in Alumni Stadium. Davidson will travel to Mt. Pleasant, S.C. to take on College of Charleston Saturday at 7 p.m. in the first round of the Southern Conference Tournament.
Davidson finishes the regular season at 6-6-6 overall after posting a 1-3-3 SoCon record to take the sixth seed in the league. Wake Forest improved to 8-7-2 and holds a 4-2-1 mark in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Ben Newnam scored the eventual game-winner in the 23rd minute, intercepting a Davidson clearing attempt and blasting it in from just inside the top of the 18-yard box. Luke Norman added an insurance goal in the 49th minute off a corner kick by Kyle Emerson. Danny Wenzel headed the ball towards the left post, where Norman was able to head it in.
The match was fairly even throughout. Wake Forest held the edge early, but the 'Cats had the better chance in the latter parts of the first half, finishing with a 6-4 edge in shots. Junior Thomas Zimmerman (Gainesville, Fla.) had a header go just left of net in the 27th minute and junior Mark Millard (Oak Ridge, N.C.) had a chip shot that beat goalkeeper Akira Fitzgerald go off the crossbar in the 40th minute.
Shots finished even at 9-9 for the game, while corner kicks were even at 3-3, as well. Senior Alex Caskey (Dunwoody, Ga.) led the 'Cats with four shots, two on goal, while junior defender Greg Macnamara (Arlington, Va.) made several good plays defensively. Junior goalkeeper Chip Sanders (Thomasville, Ga.) made four saves, while Fitzgerald made three to earn the shutout.
College of Charleston finished as the third seed in the Southern Conference and will host the sixth-seeded 'Cats Saturday at 7 p.m. in the first round of the league tournament.
East Tennessee State 1, Appalachian State 0 (OT)
BOONE, N.C.- Appalachian State University men's soccer (7-7-3, 4-2-1 SoCon) fell short against East Tennessee State (13-5, 7-2 A-Sun), 1-0, in overtime on Tuesday night at ASU Soccer Stadium on Senior Night.
The Mountaineers are now 0-2 against Atlantic Sun opponents this season, having lost to Campbell 1-0 earlier in their non-conference slate.
With the loss, Appalachian lost its first match at home this season, moving its home record to 5-1.
Both teams took an equal number of shots in the first half of play at eight a piece. David Haba came close to putting the Buccaneers up 1-0 on a shot four minutes into action, but it rang off the goal post. The Bucs rebounded and Haba took another shot at the goal, but it was saved by freshman goalkeeper Danny Free (Doncaster, South Yorkshire/Hall Cross School).
Appalachian came back down the field and junior Sean Dreybus (Newport News, Va./Warwick) and junior Bruno Mbamala (Grand Prairie, Texas/South Grand Prairie) took back-to-back shots, but were not successful.
The Mountaineers strung together four shots in a four minute span by freshman Ricky Davey (Taunton, England/Manchester Met), Mbamala and freshman Harrison Delbridge (Raleigh, N.C./Needham Broughton), but none were able to find the back of the net, sending both teams into a scoreless draw at the half.
ASU only allowed the Bucs to take a total of three second-half shots, but attempted six of their own. Free picked up his second save of the match as he caught Henry Klein's shot at 53:30.
Following an Appalachian foul, Blaike Woodruff took a strike at the goal, but had his shot blocked by the ASU defense. Mbamala and senior Steven Sassano (Gastonia, N.C./Forestview) took consecutive shots to try to give the Mountaineers a lead at 57:56 and 60:25, but both were not close.
Substitutions by both teams were frequent before the Bucs took their final shot of the second half at 69:31, but Alesi Osorio's shot sailed high.
After shots by Dreybus and junior Chad Dalton (Tampa, Fla./Land O'Lakes) were blocked, the Mountaineers' best look of the half came off the foot of sophomore Ethan Durland (Raleigh, N.C./Leesville Road) at 86:53, but it hit the post.
Dreybus got one more look at the goal to close the second half with two seconds left in play, but was unable to nail the shot sending the Apps into another overtime match.
The Bucs wasted no time in the extra period, putting the Mountaineers away, who were playing shorthanded due to injury.
At 90:35, Aaron Schoenfeld played through to Colin Pugh and Pugh flicked the ball over Free to give Pugh his fourth goal of the season and end the regular season of the Mountaineers with a 1-0 loss.
Appalachian edged ETSU in shots 14-12, but was not able to take advantage of the additional shots. ASU also held the upper hand in corner kicks, 9-2, but was not able to capitalize.
ASU will have a quick turnaround as they enter the Southern Conference tournament as a #4 seed. Despite having an identical record with #5 seed Elon (8-5-5, 4-2-1 SoCon), the Mountaineers beat the Phoenix 2-1 in double overtime on Oct. 23 to line up another meeting with Elon on Saturday (Nov. 6) at 3 p.m. at ASU Soccer Stadium.
With 14 points and matching 4-1-2 records in SoCon play, UNCG, Furman and College of Charleston all clinched a share of the regular season title, but because of a 1-0-1 mark against fellow co-champions Furman and CofC, UNCG was awarded the event's top seed.