Davidson 2, Air Force 0
USAF ACADEMY, Colo. - Junior Brian McGue scored the game-winning goal in the fifth minute and assisted on an insurance goal in the 88th to lead Davidson to a 2-0 victory over Air Force in non-conference men's soccer action Friday night in Cadet Soccer Stadium.
Freshman forward Gabe Rivera notched his first career goal in his first career game to ice the win for the Wildcats (1-0). Air Force (1-1) fired 21 shots, including 14 in the second half, but they were largely off the mark as senior goalkeeper Chip Sanders only needed to make four saves to earn his ninth career shutout.
"It was really important to get our first win of the season in the first game on the road," said head coach Matt Spear. "The guys showed a lot of perseverance, heart and grit to grind out this victory. We talked a lot about starting strong and ending strong, and that's what we did tonight."
The game was delayed approximately 90 minutes during halftime due to lightning.
The Wildcats capitalized on their first scoring chance, as sophomore midfielder Alex Givens was able to direct the ball to McGue on a play started by senior forward Thomas Zimmerman. McGue was able to put it in the back of the net at 4:40 to give the ‘Cats a lead they would not relinquish.
Play was even throughout the remainder of the first half as Air Force held a slim 7-6 advantage in shots, while Davidson had the edge in corners 2-1. Air Force then came out of the halftime delay strong, but Sanders made three big saves.
"As the game wore on, we did not connect on as many passes as we would have liked, and Air Force was able to be dangerous with their crosses and balls sent into the box," added Spear. "We had some moments where we had to withstand some of their efforts, but we did that. Chip did a tremendous job in goal to keep them off the scoreboard with some massive saves."
McGue then found Rivera at 87:07 to secure the victory.
"I'm real happy for Gabe Rivera getting his first career goal in his first college game," said Spear. "That was wonderful to ice the win."
Shots on goal finished even at four, while Air Force held an edge in shots (21-8) and corners (7-2). Air Force's Kevin Durr generated the most offensive pressure with six shots. McGue and Zimmerman led Davidson with two shots apiece.
Davidson completes their Rocky Mountain swing Sunday at Denver with kick-off slated for 2:00 p.m. Eastern.
"We have a lot of respect for the Air Force coaches, players, and academy," said Spear. "They were wonderful hosts and it was an amazing experience to be here. We'll move on real quickly and get prepared to play a very talented University of Denver team on Sunday."
The Wildcats will then return home and host the Davidson adidas Classic Friday, Sept. 9 and Sunday, Sept. 11 with games against Detroit (7 p.m.) and Gardner-Webb (7 p.m.), respectively. Appalachian State will also face Gardner-Webb and Detroit on Saturday and Sunday, respectively at 5 p.m.
Furman 3, Rutgers 1
Greenville, S.C. -- Furman scored a pair of first have goals and rolled to a 3-1 victory over Rutgers in the opening match of the Nike/Aaron Olitsky Memorial Classic on Friday evening at Patriots Point Athletics Complex in Mt. Pleasant, S.C.
The win marked Furman's first of the 2011 season and improved the Paladins to 1-1-1. Rutgers slipped to 1-1-0 on the season.
In the 29th minute, sophomore Michael Gandier picked out Clint Ritter in the box after a series of one-touch passes and the freshman slotted a shot past the Rutgers goalkeeper into the left-hand corner to give Furman a 1-0 lead. Less than three minutes before halftime, freshman George Fradenburg dribbled around the defense to the goal line and picked out Mark Gabriel who converted inside of the box to push the Paladin lead to 2-0 at the 42:43 mark.
After Rutgers pulled a goal back with an own goal off of a set piece in the 71st minute, Alex Crooks sprung junior Coleton Henning free behind the Scarlet Knights' defense and the Shawnee, Kan., native finished a 1-v-1 chance with the keeper to up the Furman cushion to 3-1.
Rutgers fashioned a 15-10 edge in shots, including a 9-7 advantage in shots on goal, but Paladin keeper Alec Kann recorded seven saves to stifle the Scarlet Knights attack. Starter Adam Klink stopped one shot for Rutgers while Kevin McMullen recorded three stops.
Furman will face 26th-ranked Princeton at noon on Sunday while Rutgers will battle host College of Charleston immediately following the Furman match.
College of Charleston 0, Princeton 0 (2 OT)
MT. PLEASANT, S.C. - The College of Charleston men's soccer team battled No. 26 Princeton to a scoreless draw in front of 1,218 fans at Patriots Point for the opening night of the Nike / Aaron Olitsky Memorial Challenge on Friday night.
The teams played a pair of 10-minute overtimes after 90 minutes of overtime but neither found the net before the final whistle.
CofC (1-0-1) concludes the Classic with a Sunday-afternoon bout with Rutgers at 2:30 p.m. Princeton (0-0-1) plays their finale at noon on Sunday with a contest against Furman.
"It was a great game," said head coach Ralph Lundy. "They (Princeton) are a very good team and they presented a huge challenge. We had to defend a lot and had to step up. We had chances. They had chances. They probably had a little more in the game. That kind of game makes us way better. We can play tough teams or easy teams - and that's a tough team."
Barring an early counter run by Andy Craven (St. Simon's Island, Ga.), the Cougars spent the early going defending their defensive third. As the first period moved forward, the Cougars leveled the pegging and played a possession-style brand of soccer.
CofC still had to weather a 9-2 Princeton shot advantage in the first half and Kees Heemskerk (Zaandam, Holland) made three big saves to take the teams into the break in a scoreless draw.
The Cougars were more offensive in a second period which saw quality chances in both directions but neither team could solve the opposition's keeper.
Neither team produced any glittering chances in the overtime periods by the Cougars did outshoot the Tigers, 4-3, after regulation.
The Cougars shielded off 12 corner-kick opportunities including three in the second overtime.
Heemskerk made six saves in 110 minutes of work but never appeared overly challenged or threatened.
"It was a tough game," said Heemskerk. "We had some physical battles and we had a tough time with them. They were a very tough team. Fortunately, they didn't score and we met up with them in the physical challenges and we got out of it with a good tie."
The yearly tournament, now in its 11th year, is held in honor of Aaron Olitsky, a 1997 graduate of the College who died tragically in a car accident in 2001. Olitsky is remembered by many for his dedication and resolve in everything he set out to do. This annual tournament in his honor raises money for the Olitsky Memorial Foundation.
Coastal Carolina 2, Elon 1
RICHMOND, Va. - After scoring the go-ahead goal in the 78th minute, the Elon men's soccer team gave up back-to-back scores in a two-minute span to drop a 2-1 decision to the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers at the VCU Tournament on Friday evening. The loss was Elon's (0-1-1) first of the young season and Coastal Carolina moved to 1-1-0 on the year.
"I thought we were a little off the pace in the first half, but in the second half, we stuck to our plan and got a good goal," said Elon head coach Darren Powell. "Coastal kept pushing and hit two great strikes in the last minutes of the game. We now have to rebound quickly to play a good VCU side."
After a back-and-forth first half, the Phoenix finally got on the board with its first goal of the season coming off the foot of junior Archie Karpeh in the 78th minute. Senior co-captain James Carroll served a ball over the Chanticleer defense on the right side and Karpeh took one touch and left-footed it over keeper Scott Angevine from about 12 yards out.
In the 83rd minute, the Chanticleers found the equalizer. Ashton Bennett collected the ball just outside the 18-yard box on the right side and drilled the tying goal into the top left corner of the net.
The score energized Coastal and minutes later the Chanticleers punched in the go-ahead goal. Justin Portillo dribbled into the box and slid a shot into the bottom left corner for for what proved to be the game-winner with just over five minutes to play in the contest.
Elon held a 14-11 shot advantage, including a 10-6 lead in the second half. Phoenix goalie Nathan Dean collected four saves and Angevine also stopped four shots.
The Phoenix will look to rebound when Elon plays the host VCU Rams on Sunday, September 4 at 2:30 p.m.