Jacksonville 2, Georgia Southern 1
STATESBORO, Ga. - Georgia Southern Men's Soccer scored an early goal, but allowed a pair of Jacksonville goals to fall 2-1 at Eagle Field on Wednesday afternoon (Sept. 28th). The loss is Georgia Southern's first at home and moves the Eagles to 5-3-1 on the season while the Dolphins improve to 3-5-1 overall.
"We were disappointed with the loss today," said Head Coach Kevin Kennedy. "We came out wanting to attack them early and it got us a goal. Certainly there are no excuses, but we have to be more mentally tough out there and protect the lead."
Georgia Southern struck first with a goal off a corner kick in the ninth minute. Drew Ruggles (Manassas, Va.) drove the corner to the far post where Alex Evert (Marietta, Ga.) volleyed the ball back across the goal line for his second tally of the season.
The Dolphins responded in the 21st minute with a goal by Pedrag Ivanovic. The senior midfielder dribbled into the center of the Eagle defense and cracked off a shot from the top of the 18-yard box to tally his second goal of the season and draw the teams even at 1-1.
Jacksonville's Nick Rodriguez gave the Dolphins a 2-1 lead in the 59th minute with an open net goal. Ashton Pett delivered a cross to the far post where the GSU goalkeeper attempted to defend. His punch missed the ball and Rodriguez was able to score the open net goal for his third tally of the season.
That shot would be Jacksonville's only attempt of the season half as Georgia Southern finished the afternoon with a 14-8 shooting advantage. Georgia Southern's Ryan Platt (Preston, England) stopped three shots in goal for the Eagles.
"You could really see that we had some tired legs out there with us playing our third game in four days," added Kennedy. "Luckily we've got 72 hours to rest before Charleston comes in here on Saturday for a big Southern Conference match."
The Eagles play host to College of Charleston this weekend for a SoCon match on Saturday, October 1st. The match against the Cougars starts at 4 p.m. from Eagle Field.
Wake Forest 4, Davidson 1
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Davidson concluded a four-game road trip with a 4-1 loss to Wake Forest after the Demon Deacons' offense came to life in the second half in non-conference men's soccer action Wednesday night at Spry Stadium.
Davidson (4-4-1, 0-1 SoCon) held the advantage in shots on goal in the first half, but Wake Forest (4-4-1, 1-2 ACC) broke the scoreless draw in the 50th minute on a counter attack. Andy Lubahn and Teddy Mullin combined on the play to find Ben Newnam in the center of the goal box for the goal.
With a shot from the top of the 18-yard box into the top right corner, Luca Gimenez added to the Deacs' lead in the 63rd minute after Lubahn found him unmarked. Newnam then found Lubahn at the goal line in the 68th minute. Danny Wenzel added a penalty kick with 6:20 remaining for a 4-0 advantage.
The Wildcats avoided the shutout with a three-on-one break in the final seconds of the match. Sophomore Nick Grube played the ball forward to junior Brian McGue, who touched the ball to senior Thomas Zimmerman for the goal, as he ripped it into the back of the net from the top right of the goal box.
The Wildcats entered the game coming off a difficult start to their Southern Conference slate at Georgia Southern. Davidson played for 67 minutes on Sunday, but lightning forced the game to be postponed, and Monday it was restarted withboth teams competing in a full 90-minute game that featured a one hour, 47 minute weather delay before the last five minutes were completed.
SeniorGarrett Bostwick nearly gave Davidson an early lead in the second half, but his chip shot sailed just high and right of the net.
Zimmerman had a pair of chances early in the game, putting a shot on goal in the second minute and then forcing Wake Forest goalkeeper Michael Lisch to make a diving, finger-tip deflection in the 15th minute to keep the game scoreless.
Ross Thomaselli nearly put Wake Forest on top with 13 minutes remaining in the first half with a shot from the right, but senior Chip Sanders made a diving one-handed save.
Sanders made two saves on the night and was strong intercepting crosses. He played the first 81 minutes before yielding to sophomore Ben Gold, who saw his first action of the season. Lisch made three saves for Wake Forest.
Davidson returns home to Alumni Stadium to face another ACC opponent, Duke, Tuesday night at 7 p.m.