College of Charleston 1, #19 Wake Forest 0
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - The College of Charleston men's soccer team defeated No. 19 Wake Forest, 1-0, on the road at Spry Stadium on Tuesday night. Francis Twohig's (St. Simon's Island, Ga.) 61st-minute goal was the only mark and solid defense allowed the Cougars to come away with the victory.
The win, the Cougars' fourth in a row, improves the team to 4-2-1 on the year. Wake Forest fell to 2-3-1 with the loss.
"This was a great team win for our program," said head coach Ralph Lundy. "Everyone worked extremely hard and we worked as a unit to beat a team that is continuously one of the best in the country."
The Cougars controlled the ball in the first half and benefited from a 6-2 shot advantage in the opening frame.
The lone goal came in the second half, however, when Sean de Silva (Port of Spain, Trinidad) fed a through ball into Twohig who had a one-on-one opportunity with the keeper and capitalized inside the right post.
Twohig's goal was his fifth in the Cougars' last four matches. Twohig and de Silva entered the match tied for the team-high in points with eight.
Freshman keeper Kees Heemskerk (Zaandam, Holland) went the distance in net, as he has in all seven of CofC's matches this season, and registered his third shutout in as many matches.
The Cougar victory avenged the 1-0 loss to Wake Forest last season at Patriots Point.
The Cougars will seek to extend their unbeaten streak to six matches on Saturday, Sept. 25 at Coastal Carolina. The match is slated for 12 p.m. at the Coastal Carolina Soccer Field.
Davidson 1, Virginia Tech 0
DAVIDSON, N.C. - Senior midfielder Alex Caskey headed in a Peter Paras corner kick with 1:13 remaining in the first half and junior goalkeeper Chip Sanders made a point-blank save in the final seconds of the match to lead Davidson past a talented Virginia Tech team, 1-0, in men's soccer action Tuesday night at Alumni Stadium.
The game-winning goal was Caskey's (Dunwoody, Ga.) third of the season as the Wildcats improved to 4-1-2. Virginia Tech fell to 1-4-1.
Sanders (Thomasville, Ga.) made four saves, with his biggest coming with just over a half-minute remaining. Virginia Tech headed the ball to an unmarked Mikey Minutillo just outside the six-yard box inside the right post, but Sanders was able to get in front and deflect his shot with his right shin. Junior defender Allen Page (Columbus, Ga.) then cleared the ball to ice the win.
Caskey's goal broke the scoreless tie late in the first half. Caskey headed it directly off a corner kick from Paras (Dublin, Ohio), and the ball went off the bottom edge of the cross bar and into the back of the net.
Sophomore Brian McGue (Dublin, Ohio) led Davidson with three shots, including solid opportunity on goal midway through the first half and one that rang off the inside of the right post early in the second half.
Shots for both teams finished even at nine apiece. Freshman goalkeeper Kyle Renfro made two saves for the Hokies. Virginia Tech had a slight edge in corner kicks, 5-4.
Virginia Tech was the first of three Atlantic Coast Conference teams on Davidson's 2010 schedule. The 'Cats will travel to Duke on Oct. 5 and host Wake Forest on Nov. 2.
Davidson opens its Southern Conference schedule Saturday, hosting Elon at 7 p.m. in Alumni Stadium.
Notes: Three of Davidson's four victories this season have come via 1-0 scores, with all three goals scored by Caskey ... the exception was a 6-1 win over Marist in the season opener ... this was Davidson's first shutout win over an ACC team since Oct. 1, 2003, when they defeated Duke, 2-0.
Appalachian State 3, Gardner-Webb 1
BOONE, N.C.- Senior Antonio Harley (Newport News, Va./Christchurch School) netted two goals to keep Appalachian State men's soccer (3-1-2) perfect at home in a 3-1 defeat of Gardner-Webb (2-5) on Tuesday night at the ASU Soccer Stadium.
Harley wasted no time finding the back of the net, scoring the Mountaineers' first goal of the match 2:05 into play.
ASU attempted to score five more times before the end of the period, taking a 1-0 lead into intermission.
The Mountaineers came out of the halftime and scored another quick goal after junior Sean Dreybus (Newport News, Va./Warwick) set up a header for junior Ryan Duffy (Apex, N.C./Apex) to put ASU up, 2-0 at the 47:51 mark.
GWU answered back with a goal of their own off the header by Chris Davis to put the match at 2-1. That would be the only goal surrendered by freshman Danny Free (Doncaster, South Yorkshire), who finished the match with three saves while notching his second win on the season.
With the game still in reach for the Runnin Bulldogs, Harley scored one more goal to put the match away at 3-1, 52:42 into the match.
Appalachian finished the physical game, outshooting the GWU, 15-4.
"The only negative is that we let a goal in today," said ASU head coach Shaun Pendleton. "That has to be the negative part of the equation, but on a positive side, we are creating so many chances. Hopefully, we will be able to put these chances away in a conference game. The progress for us is that we are 3-1-2 and we have a nice record going. We have to go on the road for two, tough games and we hope that we can continue those winning ways on the road."
The Mountaineers will take a break from playing in the confines of ASU Soccer Stadium to hit the road against Campbell on Saturday night. Action will kick off at 7 p.m.
#3 North Carolina 2, Wofford 1 (OT)
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - The Wofford men's soccer team traveled to the esteemed Fetzer Field Tuesday evening to challenge the #3 nationally ranked North Carolina Tar Heels, falling 2-1 in overtime.
The Terriers shocked Carolina in the second half, taking the lead off a penalty kick knocked in by Armin Kinigadner. Coach Polson's team held the lead until two minutes left in regulation, when the Tar Heels scrambled to tie the score, sending the match into sudden victory overtime. Five minutes into the first overtime, the Tar Heels were awarded a free kick from the top of the 18-yard box, taking advantage of the positioning and sending the ball in to win the game. The epic finish gives Wofford a 1-4-1 record, while sending the nationally-ranked Tar Heels to a 4-1 record for the year.
The Terriers took to the field on a cloudless night under the stadium lights, taking an aggressive start as they began the match with the ball on kickoff. Coach Polson developed a different strategy for the Tar Heels to account for their talented offense, dropping one of the forwards to the midfield and leaving Wilson Hood up top to challenge the Carolina defense.
The defending SoCon champs showed a fearless demeanor in the opening minutes of the game by pushing an early attack, having Kentrel Owens drive up the middle of the field and attempt a shot that was immediately blocked by an outstretched Carolina leg. At the nine minute mark, the Tar Heels mirrored the same play and defender Taylor Grim blocked the potential shot attempted by the Tar Heel's Nick Urso.
After fending off a heavy offensive attacks from Carolina, the Terriers pulled together a string of counter-attacks with 35 minutes left in the first half, just missing a couple of opportunities to post a shot on goal. Seniors Hood and Kinigadner kept applying pressure to the opposing goal in the 17th minute. Randy McLeod bodied off a Carolina attacker around the half-line, setting up a throw in taken by Billy Padula. The throw in was heaved into the middle of the box, bouncing to the feet of Armin Kinigadner, who had his shot blocked. The ball recoiled into the possession of Wilson Hood, who had his shot blocked as well by the opposing defender.
It seemed like a score was imminent in the 20th minute, when Wilson Hood streaked down center field on a breaking run, having only the keeper to beat, but the linesman threw his flag in the air to charge Hood for offsides. The Terriers took over ball possession after the offsides call, controlling the play of the game. Alex Hutchins had one of the best scoring opportunities in the first half, taking control of a punt from 30 yards out, dribbling to the top of the box and streamlining a shot just wide right of the net.
Dennis Moore entered the game with about 15 minutes left in the first half, and took advantage of his time on the field, drilling a shot from the edge of the 18-yard box, to have it blocked by a Heels defender. The Tar Heel's defenders were able to put their bodies in front of three Terrier shot attempts in the first half.
The Terrier defense stayed strong the entire first half, keeping the scoreboard blanked as they cleared every imposing threat attempted by Carolina.
Closing the first half, the Terriers drew even with the Tar Heels, keeping a 0-0 score with the #3 squad in college soccer. Wofford was able to produce four shot attempts, while North Carolina had five. Neither team was able to put a shot on frame in the first half.
The first twenty minutes of the second half was highlighted by the superb goalkeeping abilities of the sophomore goalkeeper Andrew Drennan. Drennan stopped two shots from North Carolina's Michael Farfan and one from Eddie Ababio, fisting two hard shots over the crossbar and keeping the match scoreless by charging the oncoming Ababio and stopping him short on a one-on-one opportunity.
The 70th minute proved to be a special time, producing the first goal of the match. Kinigadner controlled the ball inside the 18-yard box, deked past a Tar Heel defender and was tackled from behind, giving the Terriers a penalty kick. Kinigadner was given the opportunity to tie the game, and he easily pushed the ball into the left side-netting, fooling the Tar Heel goalkeeper.
The Terriers took the lead over the #3 team in the country at the 70:36 mark and kept the lead until the final two minutes of the game. Carolina's Ababio caught a ball off a rebound, and knocked in the equalizer from eight yards out. The match was tied 1-1 with 2:21 seconds left.
The Terriers nearly took the win with the little time left, having Hood skim a ball inches over the top crossbar, out of the reach of the keeper's gloves.
The end of regulation was called, sending the game into golden goal overtime, tied 1-1.
During the first overtime, the Tar Heels put the game away, dashing the hopes of an incredible upset by the Terriers. North Carolina was awarded a free kick at the top of the 18-yard box, and was able to take advantage of the positioning, pushing the ball past the fortified wall of defenders and into the bottom left corner, just out of Drennan's reach.
The final at the end of the first overtime was a 2-1 result. Hood and Kinigadner led the team in shots, with two, and Kinigadner accounted for the lone Terrier goal of the match. Drennan tallied four saves on the evening. Key players in the match were Kinigadner for his score, Andrew Eppelsheimer for shutting down one of the best offensive threats in the nation, Carolina's Enzo Martinez, and Andrew Drennan who had some incredible saves to keep the match scoreless for 98 minutes.
The Wofford men's soccer program travels to Mercer for their next match, September 26th at 5:00pm.