Georgia Southern 3, College of Charleston 2
STATESBORO, Ga. - Georgia Southern Men's Soccer moved into first place in the Southern Conference with a 3-2 victory over College of Charleston on Saturday afternoon. The victory was Georgia Southern's first win over the Cougars since 1986, a span of 25 years and 16 matches. The Eagles are now 2-0 in league play, 6-3-1 overall, while Charleston falls to 5-3-1 overall and 1-1 in SoCon play.
"That was certinaly an emotional win, but in the big picture we move top of the conference which is a very good thing. We played well, but we were disappointed with the way we finished the match," said Head Coach Kevin Kennedy. "I was really happy with the way Joe Hughes and Ethan LaPan played today. Joe had a great individual effort to score our second goal, while Ethan played a great ball in to Luigi (Clendening) and had a great play which led to the penalty."
Luigi Clendening (Augusta, Ga.) posted the breakthrough goal for the Eagles in the 32nd minute with his eighth goal of the season. Ethan LaPan (Martinez, Ga.) delivered a cross towards goal to the far post where Clendening headed the ball over the keeper into the net. The goal gave GSU a 1-0 lead on the Eagles' first shot of goal in the match.
Joe Hughes (Mooresville, Ga.) doubled the Georgia Southern advantage with a minute and a half remaining in the first half. The sophomore scored his first goal of the season by finishing off a run through the Charleston midfield and taking a shot from 25 yards in the middle of the field.
The Eagles went up 3-0 in the 53rd minute with a penalty kick goal. LaPan earned the spot kick when he was hauled down in the area. Clendening took the penalty to score his second goal of the afternoon and ninth goal of the season.
The Cougars scored a pair of goals in the 69th and 76th minutes to cut the Georgia Southern advantage to 3-2. Troy Peterson scored the first goal off an assist by Shawn Ferguson while Joey De Mare scored off an assist by George Khoury.
Georgia Southern's Ryan Platt (Preston, England) made seven saves on the day as the Cougars out-shot Georgia Southern, 16-12. The Eagles took nine corner kicks with a total of four shots on goal in the match.
The Eagles travel for the first road match of league play against Furman on Tuesday, October 4th. Georgia Southern takes on Wofford this Friday, October 7th at 1 p.m. from Eagle Field.
UNCG 2, No. 23 Furman 0
GREENSBORO, N.C.-UNCG scored a pair of second half goals as the Spartans opened Southern Conference play with a 2-0 victory over No. 23 Furman, Saturday at UNCG Soccer Stadium.
The win extended UNCG's (4-4-0 overall, 1-0-0 SoCon) winning streak in the series to five matches. Furman (8-2-2, 0-1-0) lost for the first time in its last 10 outings.
Facing a Furman squad which entered the match having allowed just seven goals all season, the Spartans struggled to gain any offensive traction until breaking through for a pair of late goals.
After a scoreless first half in which the teams appeared to be sizing each other up, the Spartans finally broke through with a goal in the 73rd minute. Hakan Ilhan came out of a crowd in front of the net and headed in a free kick from Aaron Reifschneider, giving UNCG a 1-0 lead. Ilhan's goal was his team-leading fifth of the season.
A flurry of shots by Furman followed as the Paladins reeled off four shots over the ensuing 10 minutes. But UNCG gained some breathing room when Austin Miller took a long pass from Kris Byrd, made a move around a defender in the box, and slid a shot past Furman goalkeeper Alec Kann for a 2-0 lead in the 86th minute.
UNCG's defense kept the Paladins at bay for the remaining four minutes to preserve the Saprtn's second win over a Top 25 team this season.
UNCG keeper Peyton Ford was outstanding for the Spartans, facing 10 shots and making three saves, all in the second half. The shutout was his second straight and 11th of his career.
The Spartans took eight shots and Kann made three saves for Furman.
UNCG returns to action when they host High Point, 7 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 5.
Appalachian State 2, Elon 1
ELON, N.C. - Appalachian State scored two unanswered goals to come away with a 2-1 victory over the host Elon Phoenix in the Southern Conference men's soccer opener under cold, windy conditions at Rudd Field on Saturday night. Boubacar Toure's score in the 54th minute of action broke the tie and proved the game-winner for the Mountaineers (5-2-2, 1-0-0).
The Phoenix (2-6-1, 0-1-0) struck first in the 18th minute of action, taking advantage of a free kick opportunity. Gabe Latigue rocketed his first goal of the year into the upper 90 from just outside the 18-yard box to give the Phoenix a 1-0 advantage.
The game went back and forth with neither team gaining too many good scoring opportunities. At 31:02, the Mountaineers managed to get on the board. Gathering the ball deep in the box just on the left side of the net, Sean Dreybus punched in the short shot past a diving Reed Dillard into the far lower corner of the net.
Elon nearly pulled ahead just before the break when Nick Millington got a good look at the goal following a Phoenix corner kick. The midfielder's shot sailed just high of the net and the teams remained knotted at one after 45 minutes of action.
The Mountaineers registered only one shot in the second half - a shot that resulted in a goal off the foot of Toure at 53:40. The forward cut to the middle from the right side of the field and took a quick strike in stride from about 12 yards out to give the visitors a 2-1 advantage.
Elon's best chance to get the equalizer came in the final four minutes of the contest. Glenn Scott launched a free kick from midfield into the box where Austen King's header went just over the net.
Elon held a 9-5 advantage in the shot column and a 6-2 edge in corner kicks.
The Phoenix will look to end a three-game skid when it continues SoCon play at Wofford on Tuesday, Oct. 4 at 7 p.m.
Wofford 1, George Washington 0 (OT)
SPARTANBURG, S.C. - Redshirt sophomore Chase West scored his first career goal in the 92nd minute of play Saturday night to give the Wofford men's soccer team a 1-0 victory over George Washington. The win improves the Terriers to 3-5-1 on the season, while the Colonials fall to 2-4-2 overall.
The goal came in the 2nd minute of overtime, as Alex Hutchins passed the ball to West at the top left corner of the 18-yard box. From there, GWU keeper Brendan Lafferty came out of the box to attempt to make the save, but West played the ball past him and followed through, putting the ball into the back of the net from three yards out.
The first 90 minutes of play was a goalkeepers battle, as Andrew Drennan picked up four saves for the Terriers, and Lafferty tallied five for George Washington.
The Colonials missed on a few chances early in the first half, as Seth Rudolph and Yoni Berhanu each put a shot of the post within the first 14 minutes of play. Wofford had several chances to score within the first 45 minutes as well, with the best taking place in the 38th minute when Quinn Hunt headed the ball toward the goal following a corner kick by Pierce Verchick, but Lafferty was just able to extend his reach to prevent the ball from making its way past him.
The second half of play became more physical, as a total of five cards were distributed among the two squads, including a red card to George Washington's Bailey Hinners in the 87th minute, putting the Colonials at a one-man disadvantage for the remainder of the match.
Wofford had other missed opportunities to score the game-winner in the second half, including a header by Carlos Dominguez Gonzales in the 79th minute that barely went wide left of the goal.
Drennan is awarded the win for the Terriers, earning four saves while facing a total of 11 shots. Lafferty takes the loss, picking up five saves while facing 14 total shots.
Wofford will return to action this upcoming Tuesday evening, returning to Southern Conference action to host Elon. The match is slated for a 7:00 p.m. start time at Snyder Field.