Elon 4, Davidson 1
DAVIDSON, N.C. - Gabe Latigue scored twice for Elon, leading the Phoenix to a 4-1 win over Davidson in Southern Conference men's soccer action Saturday night in Alumni Stadium.
Freshman Jake Keator (Jacksonville, Fla.) scored his first career goal for Davidson (4-2-2) in the 84th minute, with senior Alex Caskey (Dunwoody, Ga.) earning the assist. Caskey sent a hard ball off a corner in front of the net, where Keator was able to deflect it in.
"Hats off to Elon," said Davidson head coach Matt Spear. "Scoring two goals on their first two shots of the game was a dream start for them. When we got behind, we still believed we could comeback. But we shot ourselves in the foot on their third and fourth goals."
Elon (3-2-2) held only a slight edge in shots for the game, 15-12, and only had one corner kick attempt, coming the final seconds of the game, to Davidson's eight, but the Phoenix capitalized on early opportunities to take a 2-0 lead into halftime.
Chris Thomas chipped a shot just inside the left post after Daniel Lovitz slipped a pass just past a Davidson defender in the 10th minute to give Elon an early, 1-0 lead. Latigue extended it in the 19th minute with Brad Franks earning the assist.
Latigue scored again just under 13 minutes into the second half on a long free kick. Ben Lunka extended the lead after knocking in the rebound off a shot from Glenn Scott.
Both goalkeepers, Elon's Clint Irwin and Davidson junior Chip Sanders (Thomasville, Ga.), made three saves.
"It was not our night," added Spear. "Good teams at all levels have games that don't go their way. We will learn and move on quickly. Our guys have good balance and perspective.
"One positive tonight was that that we were able to play all 22 guys in uniform. That experience is very important for young players - especially for Jake Keator in his first collegiate goal. Our depth and spirit will be better as a result."
Davidson will host Radford Wednesday night at 7 p.m. in Alumni Stadium.
College of Charleston 2, Coastal Carolina 1
CONWAY, S.C. - The College of Charleston men's soccer team remained unbeaten in its last six matches with a 2-1 win over Coastal Carolina on Saturday afternoon on the road at the CCU Soccer Field.
The win, CofC's fifth in a row, improves their record to 5-2-1 heading into Southern Conference play. Coastal Carolina sits at 3-3-1 after the setback.
The Cougars benefited from an 11-9 shot advantage and a 7-4 corner-kick tally.
The Cougars struck first with Sean de Silva (Port of Spain, Trinidad) ripping a shot from just outside the box and beating the keeper to the far post. De Silva is the Cougars point leader this season with 11 points on four goals and three assists.
Andy Craven (St. Simon's Island, Ga.) padded the lead in the 36th minute with what would ultimately be the game winner when he broke away from the defense and chipped over the charging keeper.
The Chanticleers cut the lead in half nearly midway through the second period when Luis Faz capitalized on a rebounded deflection and tucked the ball into the back of the net. Justin Portillo picked up an assist on the play.
That goal would be the only one CofC goalkeeper Kees Heemskerk (Zaandam, Holland) would allow. It was also the only goal he has allowed in the Cougars' last four matches.
The Cougar defense was sound the rest of the way until the 2-1 mark went final. CofC was able to throw off Coastal's timing as well and forced the Chants into seven offside situations.
The Cougars will open SoCon play on Saturday, Oct. 2 when they host Davidson at Patriots Point at 4 p.m.
Furman 0, USC Upstate 0 (2 OT)
Spartanburg, S.C. -- The Furman men's soccer team battled USC Upstate to a scoreless draw in a soggy double overtime non-conference contest in Spartanburg, S.C., on Saturday evening.
The 0-0 tie moved Furman to 4-3-1 on the season while the Spartans moved to 1-3-3.
With steady rain throughout the first half and a soggy field all night, Furman failed to find the net against USC Upstate despite several chances. Mark Gabriel's 44th minute effort glanced off the outside of the post providing the closest scoring opportunity in the first half and Fabien Vorbe had a second half shot saved off of the goal line by a Spartan defender to deny the Paladins a go-ahead goal midway through the second half.
Furman held a 10-6 advantage in shot attempts on the night, including a 3-1 edge in shots on goal. Junior goalkeeper Alec Kann notched one save to earn the shutout for Furman.
The Paladins return to action on Wednesday when they open Southern Conference play with a 2 p.m. match in Statesboro, Ga., against the Georgia Southern Eagles before traveling to face Charlotte on October 2, at 7 p.m.
#19 Wake Forest 2, UNCG 1
GREENSBORO, N.C. - Andy Lubahn scored with 9:44 to play to lift Wake Forest to a 2-1 win over UNCG on Saturday night in front of a crowd of 3,494 at UNCG Soccer Stadium for Homecoming.
The crowd of 3,494 was the fourth-largest to see a Spartan soccer match at UNCG Soccer Stadium and the largest since 1991.
Both teams scored their first goals of the night via a penalty kick. Luca Gimenez converted one for the Deacs just 5:17 before halftime. UNCG's Mahdi Ali was whistled for grabbing the shirt of a Wake Forest forward chasing a loose ball in the box. Gimenez tucked the penalty kick inside the right post for a 1-0 Wake Forest advantage.
The score stayed that way until 62:48. UNCG's Kris Byrd was tripped up trying to cut between two defenders on the left side of the box and the Spartans were awarded a penalty kick. Will Mack converted the kick inside the right post to tie the match, 1-1.
With just under 10 minutes to play, however, Gimenez had a nifty pass from the left side of the box to the goal's doorstep. That was where Lubahn was waiting to knock it home for what would be the game-winner.
"We were the better team tonight," said interim coach Justin Maullin. "We played really well and I know what that scoreboard says - it says we lost, 2-1 - but we were the better team. Give their goalkeeper credit. He made some great saves and kept us off the scoreboard quite a bit."
UNCG (4-3-1) dominated play for most of the night, outshooting Wake Forest, 21-10, but missing several golden opportunities to score that later came back to haunt them. The Spartans saw their seven-game home unbeaten streak (6-0-1) snapped that dated back to last October. UNCG had also been unbeaten in its last four overall matches.
It was the second straight heartbreaker for the Spartans. Wednesday night, UNCG tied Campbell, 1-1, after the Camels tied the game with just six seconds left in regulation.
Wake Forest (3-3-1) has won six straight meetings in the series. In fact, Wake Forest had shut out the Spartans in 11 consecutive halves prior to Mack's tally. UNCG's last win in the series came in 2004, 2-1, at UNCG Soccer Stadium.
UNCG is now 18-5-3 all-time on Homecoming. The Spartans are winless in their last four Homecoming games, going 0-3-1 in that span. Wake Forest, ranked No. 19 this week, is third ranked opponent among those four Homecoming games, however, joining Akron in 2007 and Brown in 2008.
UNCG returns to action on Tuesday night when it visits High Point for an 8 p.m. start. The match will be televised locally on Spanish-programming Estrella TV (Time Warner Cable 131 / Digital Channel 20.3).
Campbell 1, Appalachian State 0
BUIES CREEN, N.C.- Appalachian State men's soccer lost a non-conference bout to Campbell, 1-0, on Saturday night on the campus of Campbell University.
The matched was knotted up at 0-0 through the first half of play. Each team only attempted through shots a piece. Sophomore Luis Calzadilla (Caracas, Venezuela/Brendeton Prep) attempted the first shot of the match 10 minutes into play and resulted in a save for Ryan Amos.
After taking three corner kicks and a high shot by junior Sean Dreybus (Newport News, Va./Warwick) and a shot by senior Antonio Harley (Newport News, Va./Christchurch School) the Mountaineers were unable to get on the board in the first half.
The second half of play saw more opportunities for ASU to score, but they were unable to convert any of the attempts into goals.
At the 52:49 mark, Brian Urioste found the back of the net off a pass to give the Camels a 1-0 advantage.
The Apps attempted to counter the goal with shots by Harley, junior Bruno Mbamala (Grand Prairie, Texas/South Grand Prairie), sophomore Lee Williams (Liverpool, England/Hillside), junior Ryan Duffy (Apex, N.C./Apex), but were unable to find the back of the net.
CU edged ASU in shots in the second half of play, 6-5 and overall in the match, 9-8.
Freshman goalkeeper Danny Free (Doncaster, South Yorkshire/Hall Cross School) recorded his first loss of the season to bring his record to 2-1. Free had two saves in the effort. Amos notched the win for the Camels.
The Mountaineers return to action on Tuesday (Sept. 28) in a road match with North Carolina State. Action is slated to begin at 7:00 p.m. from Dail Soccer Field.