No. 1 seed Elon 2, No. 8 seed Davidson 1

ELON, N.C. – Chris Thomas scored his eighth game-winner of the season to give top-seeded Elon a 2-1 win over upset-minded, eighth-seeded Davidson in the opening round of the Southern Conference Men’s Soccer Championship on Saturday night. The No. 23 Phoenix (13-4-2) advances to the semifinals next Thursday to play the winner between fourth–seeded Georgia Southern and fifth-seeded UNCG.

Thomas became the all-time leader in points for Elon with his nation-leading 22nd goal of the season and helped the Phoenix overcome its 1-0 first-half deficit against the Wildcats (6-11-1). Thomas broke Mike Wessels’ (1985-88) record of 113 points as the Snellville, Ga., native currently has 114 points for his career.

Davidson, which entered scoreless in its last three matches to conclude the regular season, came out aggressively and grabbed the early 1-0 advantage on junior Alex Givens’ first goal of the season, just 1:57 into the contest.

Fellow midfielder Brian McGue had the assist on Givens’ first goal since his freshman campaign.

The Phoenix was able to overcome that mistake in the opening minutes to settle down defensively but could not convert on the equalizer in the opening stanza. Both teams controlled the ball equally throughout the first period with Davidson holding a slight advantage on shots, 5-3.

In the final period, the Phoenix came out as the more aggressive team with five shots in first 20 minutes. With the home crowd behind it, Elon was finally able to gain momentum and was rewarded with Gabe Latigue adding the equalizer in the 64th minute. Latigue was able to sail the ball over keeper Matt Pacifici’s head from 20 yards out to give him his fourth goal of the season.

Elon continued to push forward and control possession of the ball for the majority of the second period before Thomas’ go-ahead score in the 75th minute. Thomas was able to play a well-placed cross from Latigue to beat Pacifici within the box.

The Maroon and Gold would hang on to win and advance to the semifinals for the second straight season. Elon trailed in corners, 3-0, in the second half, but outshot the Wildcats 12-4 in the final 45 minutes.

Pacifici had three saves in the loss, while Elon keeper Nathan Dean corralled four. The Phoenix extended its current unbeaten streak to five matches, its second-longest of the season.

The semifinals and the finals of the SoCon Championships will be held in Cary, N.C., beginning on Thursday. Elon and the winner between Georgia Southern/UNCG will battle in the first semifinal game at 5 p.m.

 

No. 7 seed Wofford 2, No. 2 seed Furman 1

GREENVILLE, S.C. – Carlos Dominguez Gonzalez scored on a header in the 83rd minute to help the seventh-seeded Wofford Terriers rally past second-seeded Furman, 2-1, in the Southern Conference Men’s Soccer Championship quarterfinals on Saturday night on Seagraves Field at Stone Stadium.

The Terriers (10-8-1), who avenged a 4-3, double overtime loss versus Furman last Saturday in the regular-season finale, advance to face Appalachian State in Thursday’s SoCon semifinals at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, N.C. The loss dropped Furman to 12-4-3.

With less than eight minutes to play in regulation, Wofford’s Ryan Hurst served a cross into the box that Dominguez Gonzalez headed toward the far right post. The ball bounced off the post and Furman goalkeeper Sven Lissek dove to clear the ball, but the linesman ruled that the whole ball had crossed the line.

Furman pushed forward into the Wofford box in the final minutes and earned a corner kick with less than 30 seconds left. Martin Ontiveros sent a cross into the box and John Lung’aho fired a shot that was blocked. The ball deflected back to Lung’aho, who headed another shot toward goal only to have a Wofford defender clear the ball off the goal line as time expired.

Andrew Drennan, who recorded one save on the night, notched the win in goal for Wofford. Lissek made two saves while absorbing the loss for Furman. The Paladins managed a 13-7 edge in shot attempts and 4-3 advantage in shots on goal.

The Paladins grabbed an early 1-0 lead in the 15th minute on Coleton Henning’s eighth goal of the campaign. Danny Hojaij played a corner kick to the back post, where Henning drove a header into the net at 14:10 after losing his defender.

Wofford tied the match in the 22nd minute when Billy Padula floated a long throw-in into the box and Connor Davis headed a shot across the face of goal to beat Lissek at the 21:32 mark for his third goal of 2012.

Furman had a chance to take the lead midway through the second half when Michael Gandier redirected a cross into the box, but Wofford defender Forrest Lasso made the first of the Terriers’ two team saves on the night to keep the Paladins from netting a second goal.

 

No. 6 seed Appalachian State 2, No. 3 seed College of Charleston 1

MOUNT PLESEANT, S.C. – With back-to-back second-half goals, No. 6 seed Appalachian State advanced to the semifinals of the Southern Conference Men’s Soccer Championship with a 2-1 upset of No. 3 College of Charleston on Saturday afternoon at Patriots Point.

After giving up an own goal in the 15th minute and not finding many chances in the first half, the Mountaineers responded in the 76th minute when senior Josiah Trower headed a shot past Cougar goalkeeper Kees Heemskerk. For Trower, it was his first goal in an Appalachian State uniform. Freshman Matthew Melton was credited with the assist.

Two minutes later, senior Boubacar Toure gave the Mountaineers a 2-1 lead when he got behind the defense after a Charleston turnover over deep in its territory and beat Heemskerk for the game-winning goal. Toure's goal was his long-awaited first of the season despite being second on the team in shots on the campaign.

Appalachian State's defense gave up three goals in 3-0 loss to Charleston (8-10-1) earlier this season, but CofC was unable to find a groove throughout Saturday's match against the Mountaineer back line. Appalachian State (8-7-3) limited Charleston to eight shots on goal and did not surrender a goal by a Cougar player in the upset win, while junior goalkeeper Danny Free made seven saves and kept the Mountaineers alive throughout the match.

With the victory, the Mountaineers advance to the SoCon semifinals for the third straight season. There, they will face No. 7 seed Wofford, which defeated No. 2 seed Furman 2-1 Saturday night in Greenville, S.C. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. Thursday at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, N.C.