College of Charleston 3, Presbyterian 0
CLINTON, S.C. - The College of Charleston men's soccer team impressed in its opening exhibition of the 2011 season with a 3-0 victory over Presbyterian College on Edens Field on Wednesday night.
The match featured two 45 minute periods and one 30 minute period to allow the teams extended time to experiment with formations.
"This was a solid start to our 2011 season, but there is still a lot of work to do," said head coach Ralph Lundy. "I thought we showed a lot of determination in our defending but we must be sharper when we are in possession."
The Cougars outshot the Blue Hose by an 18-17 margin and benefited from an 11-5 corner-kick advantage. The Cougars put 12 of their shots on frame.
Connor Coons (Alpharetta, Ga.), Andy Craven (St. Simon's Island, Ga.) and Tanner Clay (Gilbert, Ariz.) scored goals for the Cougars. Coons' and Clay's goals were their first in a CofC uniform.
Sean de Silva (Port of Spain, Trinidad) picked up two assists on the night. Troy Peterson (Federal Way, Wash.) picked up the Cougars' third assist.
Coons opened the scoring in the 29th minute when de Silva crossed a ball through the box and Coons rose to head it into the left side of the net.
Less than two minutes later, de Silva found Craven in the right side of the box where he booted it into the near side of the net to put CofC up 2-0.
The freshmen duo of Peterson and Clay hooked up in the 68th minute when Peterson crossed a ball into the box where Clay collected it and scored back across the goal to the far side.
Lundy checked 25 players into the match for CofC.
Sophomore goalkeeper Kees Heemskerk (Zaandam, Holland) played 90 minutes in net and registered three saves. Freshman Alex Young (Greenville, S.C.) played the final 30 minutes and picked up a save.
The Cougars play a final exhibition match when they host Duquesne on Saturday, Aug. 20 at 7 p.m. at Patriots Point before the highly touted season opener against South Carolina on Friday, Aug. 26. The South Carolina game at Patriots Point will be the National Soccer Coaches Association Game of the Week and be televised nationally on the FOX Soccer Channel.
#25 Wake Forest 2, #30 Furman 1
Winston-Salem, N.C. -- Andy Lubahn scored just 11 seconds into the second half to give 25th-ranked Wake Forest a 2-1 lead as the Demon Deacons rallied past No. 30 Furman in exhibition men's soccer action on Wednesday night at Spry Stadium.
Martin Ontiveros, a University of Akron transfer, put Furman in front less than 10 minutes into the match with an unassisted goal before Wake Forest's Luca Gimenez equalized on a corner kick at the 39:55 mark.
Teddy Mullin delivered a pass to Lubahn who scored at the 45:11 mark to put the Demon Deacons in front with the only goal of the second half.
Wake Forest held an 8-7 edge in shots and 4-3 advantage in shots on goal. The Demon Deacons Michael Lisch recorded two saves while Furman senior Alec Kann stopped two shots in the loss.
The Paladins travel to Campbell for their regular season opener on August 26, before hosting nationally-ranked Duke at Stone Stadium on August 29.
High Point 2, Elon 1
ASHEVILLE, N.C. - The Elon men's soccer team competed in the first of two preseason exhibition games on Wednesday afternoon, falling to the UNC Asheville Bulldogs, 2-1. Junior Jordan Smith, a transfer from the University of Vermont, scored the lone goal for the Phoenix.
The teams played three 40-minutes halves in the exhibition match. Each team's starters played in the first two halves with reserves playing the final 40 minutes.
"Today was a tough preseason game," Elon head coach Darren Powell noted. "UNC Asheville performed well and was well organized throughout the game. We played well at times, but were unable to convert our opportunities. It is a gauge of our team's strengths and fitness levels as we prepare for the season. We got to see a lot of players today and they were able to get real game experience during the three 40 minute periods. We look to continue our preparations against nationally-ranked South Carolina on Saturday night."
The Phoenix controlled much of the play early in the contest, just missing on a scoring opportunity five minutes into the match when Chris Thomas' shot his the cross bar from five yards out. Elon nearly scored on the rebound but was called for offsides.
Asheville finally managed to get on the board just before the first half ended. On a corner kick, Kye Grooms sent the ball into the goal area where A.J. Iiames got his foot on it and lifted it into the back of the goal for a 1-0 home team lead with 18 seconds remaining.
After a scoreless second session, the Bulldogs' Tim Kynast picked up a pass from Eli Morrow in the final 40-minute period. Kynast then hit a shot from 25 yards out that curled into the back left corner of the net to give the Bulldogs a 2-0 advantage.
Elon countered shortly after when Smith scored on a breakaway to cut the lead to 2-1.
The Phoenix came close to tying the match twice as one shot went wide with 10 minutes left before UNCA goalie Dan Jackson made a nice save on a Matt Wescoe shot with four minutes remaining.
Elon outshot Asheville 14-8. The Bulldogs had nine corner kicks compared to six for Elon.
The Phoenix will travel to No. 20 South Carolina on Saturday to take on the Gamecocks at 7 p.m. in the final preseason contest.