Appalachian State 1, East Tennessee State 0
BOONE, N.C. - Senior David Dodge's goal in the 13th minute was all that was needed as the Appalachian State University men's soccer opened the season with a 1-0 victory over East Tennessee State on Friday night at the Ted Mackorell Soccer Complex.
With the victory, App State earns its first win in the regular-season opener since 2009.
The Mountaineers moved quickly in the first half when freshman midfielder Matthew Melton scooted down the right side of the field and fed Dodge in the middle of the box with a ground pass. Dodge struck the ball with his right foot to put the Apps ahead.
The Mountaineer defense shined all night, preventing ETSU from recording a shot on goal.
Appalachian outshot the Bucs 9-8 for the match, while the Apps tallied three shots on goal. Senior Josiah Trower and freshman Luke Adams troubled Buccaneers goalkeeper Ryan Coulter.
Trower paced the Mountaineers with four shots for the night while Adams also placed one shot on target.
Appalachian will be in back in action on Thursday when it travels to UNC Asheville. Kickoff is set for 4 p.m.
No. 20 Furman 3, Presbyterian 0
CLINTON, S.C. - Danny Hojaij and Walker Zimmerman each netted first-half goals to lead 20th-ranked Furman past Presbyterian, 3-0, in the men's soccer regular season opener for both schools on Friday evening at Martin Stadium.
The Paladins (1-0-0), who outshot PC (0-1-0) 12-0 in the first half and 21-5 over the full 90 minutes, opened the scoring in the 12th minute when Martin Ontiveros' corner kick into the box deflected to Hojaij, who finished into the middle of the net at 11:11.
Furman doubled its advantage less than 14 minutes later as Adrian McInnis lofted a throw in into the 18-yard box and Zimmerman, a preseason All-American, headed it off of the left post to best PC goalkeeper Tyler Beadle at 24:54.
Continued pressure after the restart paid dividends for Furman in the 60th minute as a dangerous cross into the Blue Hose box was knocked into net by PC's Oliver Nobels for an own goal.
Doug Ryan played more than 77 minutes in net for Furman and earned the victory despite not being called on to make a save. Trent Johnson stopped one shot in 12:47 of work.
Beadle recorded 13 saves while allowing three goals to absorb the loss for Presbyterian.
The Paladins return to action on Monday evening when they travel to Boiling Springs, N.C., to face Gardner-Webb at 7 p.m.
UNCG 2, UNCW 2
WILMINGTON, N.C. - The UNCG men's soccer team opened the 2012 regular season Friday evening with a 2-2 tie against UNCW in double overtime at the UNCW Soccer Stadium.
The Spartans outshot the Seahawks 20-16 in the game and played with a man advantage for the final 42:50 of the game but could not find the elusive game-winner.
UNCG went on the attack early in the 17th minute as the Spartans made a break down the left-hand side. Senior Hakan Ilhan found Maximilian Schulz down the flank. Schulz drilled a cross into the box, where redshirt freshman Dustin Gamradt one-time a shot just wide of the post to keep the game scoreless.
The Spartans kept the pressure on in the 23rd minute and forced a corner kick. After the initial kick, Schulz passed it back to Michael Holzer who drove a cross into the six-yard box. Junior Oddur Gudmundsson ran onto the cross and drilled a header past UNCW goalkeeper Brandon Bolen for the 1-0 lead and the first goal of the 2012 season.
UNCW tied the game in the 35th minute of action off a corner kick of its own. The Seahawks sent the kick to the back side of the box and it was headed back across the grain to Jacob VanCompernolle, who headed it into the side netting past Peyton Ford to tie the game at 1-1.
The Seahawks took their only lead of the night early in the second half. UNCW forward Jamie Dell got in behind the Spartans' defense and poked the ball past a diving Ford for the 2-1 lead in the 49th minute of play.
The Spartans came right back in the 53rd minute of play, tying the game at 2-2. Off a throw-in, Gamradt flicked the ball to the back side of the six-yard box, where Schulz ran onto the ball and deposited into the back of the net for his first career goal at UNCG.
The hotly contested game reached a crescendo in the 67th minute as UNCW midfielder Jose Garcia was booked for his second yellow of the game, resulting in a red card allowing the Spartans to play 11-on-10 the rest of the campaign. Ilhan almost gave the Spartans the lead on the ensuing free kick from the top of the 18-yard box as he shot was punched away by Bolen to keep the game tied.
UNCG came within inches of going ahead in the final minute of regulation. The Seahawks were trying to run out the clock in the second half but their goal kick was intercepted by freshman Lukas Zarges, who made a run down the middle of the field before firing a shot just inches wide of the post, sending the game into overtime.
Both teams went back-and-forth in the two overtime periods with similar chances but none produced the game-winner. The Spartans posted the only two shots in the extra time, finishing with a 20-16 advantage, including a game-high seven shots by Gudmundsson.
Ford finished the night with three saves while Bolden posted six saves for UNCW.
UNCG continues its season-opening four-game road swing Tuesday night as it travels to Johnson City, Tenn., to face off against East Tennessee State. Game time is set for 7 p.m.
South Carolina 1, College of Charleston 0
COLUMBIA, S.C. - The College of Charleston men's soccer team fell 1-0 in its season opener at South Carolina at Eugene E. Stone Stadium on Friday evening. The Cougars did well in possession and outshot the Gamecocks, 10-9, but left its chances empty and dropped the result.
The lone goal of the match came in the 73rd minute when Stephen Anderson sent in a hard-driven ball from 30 yards that Cougar keeper Kees Heemskerk got his hands to but couldn't keep out of the net.
The Cougars outshot the Gamecocks, led by Ralphie Lundy's four attempts and two on frame. Lundy's finest, perhaps, came on a 25-yard free kick in the 83rd minute. Lundy brilliantly split the Gamecock wall with an out-bending laser that South Carolina keeper Alex Long was barely able to get a finger to and push past his left post. Six different Cougars registered shots on the evening.
Heemskerk made three saves on the evening, all of which were dazzling maneuvers on seemingly impossible shots.
The game's physicality was indicative of the passion fueling this cross-state rivalry, calling on the officials to whistle 26 evenly split fouls and issue seven yellow cards.
The Cougars take a full week off before opening the 12th annual Nike/Aaron Olitsky Memorial Classic at Patriots Point next weekend. The Cougars will face off with powerhouse Stanford on Friday at 7:30 p.m. and close with Dayton on Sunday, Sept. 2 at 2:30 p.m.