SoCon Men's Soccer Championship Central
#4 Appalachian State 1, Elon 0
BOONE, N.C.- Junior Bruno Mbamala put away his second goal of the season with less than 30 seconds left in the first half to give Appalachian State University men's soccer (8-7-3) a 1-0 win over Elon (8-6-5) and send the Mountaineers to the semifinals of the 2010 Southern Conference men's soccer tournament.
The crowd of right under 250 that braved the 36-degree weather did not see the first shot of the match until right under 10 minutes when Elon's James Carroll got a look at the goal, but it was high.
Junior Sean Dreybus then took an Appalachian corner kick at 14:11 and junior Ryan Duffy went in for the header, but it went wide. Following an Elon foul, the Mountaineers attacked the goal again with an Antonio Harley shot, but Harley's shot was high.
After Dreybus got four looks at the goal along with Mbamala, another Elon foul set up the ASU offense with less than a minute left in the first half. The Mountaineers made a couple of passes and then Mbamala was able to clean up a mess in front of the goal with his header to give Appalachian the 1-0 advantage. Elon raced down the field with seconds left to allow Brad Franks to get a shot off, but it was saved by freshman goalkeeper Danny Free to end the half.
Dreybus opened up the half with a shot less than 30 seconds into play, but it came off the post, allowing Harley to get a shot in that went wide.
Franks came at Free with another shot at 55:22, but Free was able to catch it to keep the Phoenix off the board. Following Franks third shot of the contest and junior Chad Dalton's shot, Elon's Gabe Latigue, brother of ASU's Nate Latigue took back-to-back shots at the goal, but Free converted both shots into saves at the halfway point of the match.
The possession of the ball went back and forth for the rest of the match, but Appalachian was able to hold on for the 1-0 victory to give ASU head coach Shaun Pendleton his first SoCon tournament win.
The Mountaineers edged the Phoenix in shooting, 12-11, but Elon was awarded more corners than ASU, winning in that column, 8-4.
Free recorded four saves with the win and moved his season record to 3-2-1, while Irwin (4-3-4) had one save in the loss.
With the victory, Appalachian now has a 15-20-1 record in SoCon tournament matches and earned its first win as a #4 seed in the tournament. The win marks the 12th time ASU has advanced to the semifinals of the tournament.
The win also moves the series record with Elon to 6-5-2 overall and 1-2 in playoff bouts.
ASU will face top-seeded UNCG on Friday, Nov. 12 at 5 p.m. at the Patriots Point Athletic Complex in Mt. Pleasant, S.C.
#1 UNCG 2, #8 Georgia Southern 1 (OT)
GREENSBORO, N.C. - Sophomore Hakan Ilhan scored twice, including the game-winner 3:07 into overtime as top-seeded UNCG survived a scare from eighth-seeded Georgia Southern, 2-1, in Southern Conference Men's Soccer Championship quarterfinal round action Saturday night.
Ilhan's 10th goal of the year grazed the bottom of the crossbar for the game-winner. The Spartans, who are now unbeaten in their last nine matches (6-0-3), controlled play for much of the night. The Spartans held a 21-5 advantage in shots and had two shots hit the post midway through the first half in a two-minute span.
"We harped all week long that this game was not going to be easy," said UNCG interim coach Justin Maullin. "We told them 'don't go out and expect this to be another 6-1 game.' We scored 12 goals the last two times we played Georgia Southern and we preached all week long that it would not be that again tonight. Credit to Georgia Southern - (coach) Kevin Kennedy and his staff had a great game plan and did a great job. They were very difficult to breakdown.
"We were unfortunate in the first half with hitting the post twice. If those go in, it is a different game. But I told our guys when overtime started 'go win it now' and fortunately we did. I am extremely proud of them. It is tournament time and anything can happen."
It is the 30th time in the last 31 seasons that the Spartans have won 10 or more matches in a season.
After a scoreless first half, UNCG had a golden opportunity with 20 minutes left. Adam Shore's point-blank shot was saved by Neal Bates. Brian Graham was there for the rebound, but his shot hit off of Bates' foot and the match remained scoreless.
The Spartans finally broke through at 77:13. Kris Byrd was taken down on the left side of the box and UNCG was awarded a penalty kick. Ilhan blasted it into the left side of the goal to give UNCG a 1-0 lead.
Georgia Southern (3-11-3) tied it, however, with 6:20 left in regulation. A long throw-in from Drew Ruggles went into the box, but was deflected towards the 18-yard line. However, Ethan LaPan was able to gather it in on the left side of the box and hit a one-timer into the net for his fourth tally of the season.
In overtime, the Spartans continued to apply pressure. On a throw-in, Aaron Reifschneider played the ball to the feet on Will Mack. Mack's uncontested cross from the right side found Ilhan in the middle of the box, just above the six-yard box. He blasted into the top of the goal, just grazing the underside of the crossbar for his SoCon leading 10th tally of the year.
Ilhan leads the SoCon with 27 points on the season. The native of Stuttgart, Germany now has a point in six straight matches and eight of the last nine. In his last six matches, he has tallied 15 points on six goals and three assists.
The win gave UNCG a date with Appalachian State next Friday evening in Mount Pleasant, S.C. The fourth-seeded Mountaineers topped fifth-seeded Elon, 1-0, on Saturday afternoon in Boone.
UNCG's win also made it 14 consecutive years that the No. 1 seed has defeated the No. 8 seed in quarterfinal round action, although Saturday's contest was the first time that match-up has needed extra time.
#6 Davidson 3, #3 College of Charleston 1
MT. PLEASANT, S.C. - The College of Charleston men's soccer team lost, 3-1, to Davidson in the opening round of the Southern Conference Men's Soccer Tournament at Patriots Point on Saturday evening.
The loss ends the No. 3 seed Cougars' 2010 run with a record of 10-4-3 (4-1-2 SoCon). No. 6 seed Davidson improves to 7-6-6 (1-3-3 SoCon) and will advance to the semifinals where it will face either Furman or Wofford. All remaining games in the tournament are hosted at Patriots Point.
The Cougars offense produced a heavy, 18-8 shot advantage but failed to convert when it needed to en route to the loss. The Cougars also created a 9-5 corner-kick advantage.
Davidson struck first in the 11th minute when Yannick Pilgrim made a long run down the right side of the field and sent a late pass into the box to an open Brian McGue who one-touched the ball inside the left post.
The Wildcats extended their lead early in the second half when Alex Caskey bent a spectacular ball around the Cougars' defensive wall on a free kick from 28 yards out.
CofC responded in the 66th minute when Sean de Silva (Port of Spain, Trinidad) threaded a ball beautifully between defenders to Kareem Yearwood (Port of Spain, Trinidad) at the top of the box who made a touch and slipped the ball past the charging keeper, cutting the lead to 2-1.
Davidson crushed CofC's momentum minutes later, however, when they converted on a corner-kick opportunity. Chris Pettiglio sent the ball in and it rattled around in the box before Mark Millard headed it into the net, moving the score to the eventual final, 3-1.
The Cougars will now await the selection for the NCAA tournament which will take place following the conclusion of the various conference tournaments across the country.