Appalachian State 2, Liberty 1
BOONE, N.C.- Junior Sean Dreybus (Newport News, Va./Warwick) nailed his second goal of the season in the 83rd minute of action to secure a 2-1 victory for Appalachian States men's soccer (2-1-2) over Liberty (3-1-1) in front of a crowd of 510 fans on Wednesday night at the ASU Soccer Stadium.
The match, which featured a halftime scrimmage of teams and jersey drawing from the High Country Soccer Association, was the first loss of the season for the Flames.
The first half of action was a tough, defensive battle which ended 0-0. Freshman Danny Free (Doncaster, South Yorkshire/Hall Cross School) registered the first save of his collegiate career in the half. The match was also Frees first career start and win in goal for the Mountaineers. The Doncaster, South Yorkshire-native finished the match with three saves.
The Flames got on the board first in the match with Phillip Aseweh hitting a shot from 10 feet away to open the second half. That would be the only goal of the match that Free would surrender.
ASU fought back and came right back and scored off a goal from senior Steven Sassano (Gastonia, N.C./Forestview). Sophomore Luis Calzadilla (Caracas, Venezuela/Brandeton Prep) make a quick pass to Sassano for the assist to tie the game at 1-1.
With time winding down, Dreybus marched down the field with less than 10 minutes left in regulation to put the game away from the Mountaineers.
ASU head coach Shaun Pendleton is now 3-0 all-time in home openers at Appalachian.
"Obviously, it was a great result for us coming off a difficult loss at Louisville," said Pendleton. "We had a tough three-game stretch and we wanted to get off to a winning start here at home, which we have against a great team. Liberty was undefeated. They have a great record. We turned the result from last year around. We lost there last year quite easily, but tonight we competed and it was great to see these players step up, especially Sean and Steven and make some changes in the team and it seemed to work for us."
Appalachian continues its homestand against Gardner-Webb on Sept. 21 with action from the Appalachian Soccer Stadium kicking off at 7 p.m.
Georgia Southern 2, North Florida 1
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Austin Steele scored a pair of second-half goals to lead Georgia Southern (2-2-1) to a 2-1 victory over North Florida (0-3-0) Wednesday night (September 15) in Jacksonville, Fla.
The senior defender from Kennesaw, Ga., scored his second goal of the game with less than eight minutes left in the game, getting the ball from Jon Cox (Alpharetta, Ga.) and scoring the game winner in the 83rd minute. The Eagles earned a corner kick, first touched by Cox before Steele rattled the net.
Steele tied the match in the 56th minute, finding the top of the net from 25 yards out to even the match with the unassisted goal.
Greg Crowell gave North Florida an early lead, scoring on a one-on-one against Georgia Southern goalkeeper Ryan Platt (Preston, England) in the 12th minute.
Platt was tested just three times, making two saves, as the Georgia Southern defense held North Florida to just seven shots in the game. The Eagles were even tougher in the second half, holding the Ospreys to just one shot.
Georgia Southern took 16 shots, eight each half, putting nine on frame. Tyler Willets made seven saves in the match, but couldn't keep the Georgia Southern offense from finding the back of the net.
Cox led the offensive attack with four shots, two on goal, finishing with an assist on the game winner, while freshman Ethan LaPan (Martinez, Ga.) took three shots, placing two on goal.
The Eagles return home for their next contest, taking on Winthrop on Sunday, Sept. 19 at Eagle Field at noon.
UNCG 2, William & Mary 1
GREENSBORO, N.C. - UNCG freshman Fannar Arnarsson scored his first goal in dramatic fashion, banking in a shot off the post in the 83rd minute to rally the Spartans past William & Mary on Wednesday, 2-1.
The Spartans improved to 3-2-0 on the season, while William & Mary fell to 3-1-0. The Tribe came into the match receiving votes in the NSCAA Top 25 poll and were No. 23 in the Top Drawer Soccer poll after outstanding wins over West Virginia and Rhode Island this past weekend.
With the game tied 1-1 and overtime looming, Arnarsson found himself with the ball inside the 18-yard box. The freshman from Raykjavik, Iceland, dribbled in and put a nifty juke on his defender to give himself space to shoot, then blasted a shot that went off the right post and in for the game-winner.
UNCG's goal was just its latest from one of its talented underclassmen. All seven of the Spartans' goals this season have been scored by freshmen and sophomores.
"I thought the guys played really well tonight after that tough start," said interim coach Justin Maullin. "I thought Fannar was outstanding with his play in the middle. Overall the guys dug down and came through with a fantastic team effort."
William & Mary drew first blood in the contest, surprising the Spartans with a goal just 1:29 into the game. The Tribe was awarded a free kick about 10 yards into UNCG's defensive half, and Derek Buckley drilled a pass into the box. UNCG keeper Peyton Ford came off his line to make an attempt for it, but William & Mary's Alan Koger nodded it past him to put the Tribe on the board.
Despite the early miscue, the Spartans would dominate the opening half of play, and finally got the equalizer in the 30th minute. Hakan Ilhan picked up his second goal of the season, nodding home an Aaron Reifschneider cross from close range to knot the game 1-1.
UNCG held an 18-6 advantage in shots on the night and 12-1 in corner kicks. Andrew McAdams made nine saves for William & Mary to keep the Tribe within striking distance.
The Spartans return to action on Saturday night when they host Navy at 7 p.m. to continue their current four-match homestand.