Furman 1, No. 26 Princeton 0
Mt. Pleasant, S.C. -- Senior Amadu Ndiaye scored off of a set piece at the 68-minute mark to lift Furman over 26th-ranked Princeton, 1-0, on Sunday afternoon at the Nike/Aaron Olitsky Memorial Classic in Mt. Pleasant, S.C.
The victory, coupled with the Paladins' 3-1 triumph versus Rutgers on Friday, helped Furman secure the tournament title and improve to 2-1-1 on the season. Princeton dropped to 0-1-1.
Ndiaye, a defender, redirected a deflection off of a corner kick from inside six yards for his first goal of the season after Princeton had controlled the majority of possession and produced most of the scoring chances in the first hour. Junior Daniel Hojaij was credited with the assist.
The Tigers pushed for an equalizer over the final 20 minutes, but Furman's Alec Kann preserved the shutout, his second of the season, with five saves.
Princeton managed a 13-6 edge in shot attempts and held Furman to just two chances on goal. Max Gallin, who recorded one save, took the loss for the Tigers.
Furman returns home this coming weekend to host the annual Diadora/Spinx Furman Invitational at Stone Soccer Stadium. Winthrop and College of Charleston open tournament play on Friday before Furman hosts UNC Asheville at 7 p.m. The tournament concludes with UNCA versus CofC and Furman versus Winthrop on Sunday afternoon.
Davidson 0, Denver 0 (2 OT)
DENVER, Colo. - Davidson's defense turned in another strong performance, battling to a 0-0 draw with a strong Denver team in non-conference men's soccer action Sunday afternoon at the University of Denver Soccer Stadium.
Davidson (1-0-1) has yet to allow a goal in the first two games of the 2011 season after opening with a 2-0 win at Air Force Friday. The last time the Wildcats opened the season with back-to-back shutouts was in 1999. Senior goalkeeper Chip Sanders needed to make just one save against Denver (0-1-1) to earn his 10th career shutout and tie Mike Iordanou (1977-81) for fifth all-time in the category at Davidson.
"It was a tremendous defensive effort and a very good result today against a very talented, hungry and rested Denver team," said Davidson head coach Matt Spear. "The guys had to fight hard to get through the added fatigue caused by the higher elevation here, but they rose to the occasion and earned two shutouts, so I'm very proud of them. It says a lot about our guys in terms of their fitness, dedication, perseverance and toughness."
Denver, 2010 NCAA Tournament participant, was a strong early season test for the Wildcats, as they were picked to finish second in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation and entered the season ranked 19th by Goal.com. College Soccer News ranked them 30th in their most recent poll.
Davidson nearly scored in the opening seconds of the game off the kickoff after junior Brian McGue won the header on a long ball into the box. He directed it to classmate Andrew DiLallo, but his volley went just high. DiLallo and McGue nearly connected again off a long ball later in the first half, but the shot went just wide.
Freshman Gabe Rivera attempted a bicycle kick on a scoring chance midway through thesecond half, but Denver goalkeeper Oliver Brown was there to make the save. Brown finished the game with two saves.
Cole Chapleski led Denver offensively with three shots, while McGue also totaledthree for Davidson.
The Wildcats will 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.
Mercer 2, Appalachian State 0
Macon, Ga. - In its first road game of the season, Appalachian State men's soccer fell, 2-0, to Mercer on Sunday. With the loss, the Mountaineers slip to 1-2-0 on the year, while Mercer gets its first win to improve to 1-1-1.
Mercer applied the offensive pressure early, notching two shots within the first two minutes. The Mountaineers fought off four early corner kicks, to keep the game scoreless midway through the first period.
In the 37th minute, an aggressive foul inside the box gave Mercer a penalty kick attempt, and junior Josh Shutter converted for his first goal of the season.
In the second half, a throw-in by Shutter proved significant, as Will Betts was able to get his head on the ball and deflect it into the Appalachian goal to give the Bears a 2-0 lead.
ASU responded with seven shots in the second half, but Mercer held on to pick up its first win of the season. Sekani Sinclair (Parkland, Fla./Marjory Stoneman Douglas) and David Dodge (Oviedo, Fla./Oviedo) each notched a pair of shots in the game.
Goalkeeper Danny Free (Doncaster, England/Hall Cross School) made his collegiate debut for ASU, tallying four saves on the day.
Appalachian hits the road again next weekend for the Davidson/adidas classic. The Mountaineers face Gardner-Webb on Friday, Sept. 9 and Detroit on Sunday, Sept. 11.
Rutgers 2, College of Charleston 1
MT. PLEASANT, S.C. - The College of Charleston men's soccer team was bested, 2-1, at the hands of Rutgers in the final game of the 11th annual Nike / Aaron Olitsky Memorial Classic at Patriots Point on Sunday afternoon.
"Honestly, I think we had our best game of the season today but unfortunately we came away with the loss," said assistant head coach Troy Lesesne. "We made one bad mistake on their second goal and didn't convert on our chances.
"We did well with possession but we have to work on an end product. Rutgers is a good team and they played their chances well and got the result."
The Cougars (1-1-1) take their first loss of the season despite outshooting Rutgers by a 12-9 margin. The Scarlet Knights (2-1-1) benefited from a 7-4 shot-on-goal advantage, however.
Kees Heemskerk (Zaandam, Holland) made a gleaming save on a point-blank rip from Bryant Knibbs after he freed himself around the six-yard mark. The Scarlet Knights capitalized on the ensuing corner kick, however, after J.P. Correa collected a failed clearing attempt and found Joe Setchell in the middle of the box.
The Cougars equalized moments later with a 29th-minute tally after Sean de Silva (Port of Spain, Trinidad) found Francis Twohig (St. Simon's Island, Ga.) in the box where Twohig made a single dribble and turn and neatly tucked the ball inside the near post.
The game winner came in the 58th minute when Kene Eze collected a rebound off Heemskerk and put it into the open net with an assist by Nate Bordeau.
The Cougars out-possessed the Scarlet Knights but couldn't notch the second equalizer despite a quality offensive showing.
Heemskerk was an All-Tournament selection as was Shawn Ferguson (Rock Hill, S.C.) who offered a full 90 minutes on Sunday and 110 in the double-overtime draw with Princeton on Friday night.
CofC takes to the road to compete in the Furman / Diadora Spinx Invitational next weekend. The Cougars play Winthrop on Friday, Sept. 9 at 7:30 p.m. and UNC Asheville at noon on Sunday, Sept. 11.
VCU 4, Elon 0
RICHMOND, Va. - The Elon men's soccer team couldn't overcome a potent VCU attack as the host Rams posted a 4-0 victory over the Phoenix in the final game of the 2011 VCU Tournament on Sunday afternoon. Despite trailing only 1-0 at the half, Elon (0-2-1) gave up an early second-half score that seemed to spark the Rams' offense as VCU moved to an unbeaten 4-0-0 this season.
"Obviously we are very disappointed with the result," commented Elon head coach Darren Powell. "VCU is a quality team that was able to execute its chances today. We obviously need improvement over the next week to prepare for a tough game on Friday against Charlotte.
"I think all the players are looking forward to getting back to the basics in preparation for that game next weekend. We are happy to be back at home and look forward to the great support of our fans like we had in our season-opener against High Point."
The Phoenix opened the game with some strong early chances, forcing keeper Josh Pantazelos to make some big stops to keep Elon off the board. Junior Gabe Latigue rocketed a left-footed shot from the 18 that was blocked away by Pantazelos and senior Nick Millington forced another save with his shot from the top of the box.
VCU got its first score in the 29th minute when Nick Rich curled in a cross from the right side of the field that went off an Elon defender and into the net for a 1-0 Rams lead. Neither team had too many more chances before the break, with the shot total 5-4 in favor of the Phoenix after 45 minutes of play.
The home team came out firing after the break and in the 48th minute added some cushion to its lead. One-on-one with Elon goalie Reed Dillard, Jason Johnson managed to put it past the keeper for the two-goal VCU advantage.
Dillard has his work cut out for him, making some impressive stops on 15 second-period VCU attempts. He finished with eight saves in the contest.
The Phoenix kept firing, trying to get back in the game. Latigue and Millington each had solid opportunities, including a header from Millington that went just wide right of the goal.
In the 72nd minute, VCU's Yoram Mwila pushed the game further out of reach for the Phoenix as his shot made it through the Elon defense and into the bottom right corner of the net.
With the game decided, the Rams tucked in one final score with five seconds remaining on the clock. Ragnar Leosson found Carlos Castillo deep in the box and Castillo tapped in the score for the final 4-0 margin.
Elon senior James Carroll and sophomore Danny Lovitz were named to the all-tournament team.
The Phoenix returns home for the Elon Classic next weekend, beginning with a contest against Charlotte on Friday, September 9 at 7:30 p.m. The Elon women's soccer team will play prior to the men's game, facing off against North Florida at 5 p.m.
UNCG-Clemson men's soccer game canceled
GREENSBORO, N.C.-UNCG's men's soccer match at Clemson on Monday has been canceled due to expected heavy rains in South Carolina. The match is not likely to be rescheduled.
Tropical Storm Lee is expected to dump up to 10 inches of rain on the Clemson area in the 24 hours preceding the match.
The nationally-ranked Spartans (1-1-0) next host North Florida, 7 p.m., Friday, Sept. 9 at UNCG Soccer Stadium.