No. 22/17 Furman 2, Stanford 0

MT. PLEASANT, S.C. – Senior Coleton Henning tallied a pair of second-half goals and senior Doug Ryan made seven saves in goal to lead the 17th-ranked Furman men’s soccer team to a 2-0 victory over the Stanford Cardinal on Sunday afternoon at the Nike/Aaron Olitsky Memorial Classic at Patriots Point.

The win improved the Paladins to 3-1-0 on the season, while Stanford, who fell 2-1 to host College of Charleston on Friday night, slipped to 1-2-0.

After the Paladins were outshot 8-2 in the first half, Henning broke the scoreless deadlock in the 49th minute with a volley from more than 20 yards out to best Cardinal goalkeeper Drew Hutchins.

Furman’s Clint Ritter nearly doubled the lead when he hit the crossbar moments later, but then Stanford began applying the pressure. Aaron Kover hit the post and the Cardinal forced Ryan into three saves in a 10-minute span before Henning headed in a Danny Hojaij corner off a deflection from a Stanford defender at the 75:24 mark for his third goal of the season and the final 2-0 margin.

Ryan earned his third victory in goal while Hutchins made one save in the loss for Stanford.

The Cardinal outshot Furman 15-9, including 7-3 in shots on goal, but the Paladins made the most of their opportunities by scoring on both of the shots on goal during the second half.

Furman is ranked 17^th in the Soccer America Top 25 and No. 22 in the NSCAA/Continental Tire Top 25.

Furman returns to Greenville, S.C., next weekend to host the Diadora/Spinx Gray Griffin Classic at Stone Soccer Stadium. College of Charleston and Memphis kickoff the tournament at 4:30 p.m. on Friday before Furman hosts UNCW at 7 p.m. Tournament play concludes on Sunday with the Cougars and Seahawks battling at 11:30 a.m. ahead of Furman’s 2 p.m. contest with Memphis.

 

Georgia Southern 2, Gardner-Webb 0

SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Georgia Southern earned a 2-0 victory over Gardner-Webb on Sunday afternoon in the 2012 SoCon/Big South Challenge. Witt Carlisle broke a 0-0 deadlock in the 63rd minute with his second goal of the year, while Drew Ruggles added a penalty kick goal in the 65th minute. Southern’s victory also clinched the SoCon/Big South Challenge Championship for the Eagles.

After an hour of scoreless play, Carlisle opened the floodgates in the 63rd minute, scoring his second goal of the season. A wide ball was played into the danger area past a dummy run of Seth Prieto and to the foot of Carlisle. He slotted the shot from eight yards out into the back of the net for a 1-0 Georgia Southern lead.

Just two minutes later, the Eagles doubled their advantage with a penalty kick. It was the second GSU spot kick in the last two matches with both attempts being the result of handballs in the box. Ruggles scored the penalty kick for his first goal of the year.

Goalkeeper Jack Falle made three saves on the afternoon for his first collegiate shutout. The victory improved the Eagles to 2-0-1 on the year.

Georgia Southern had four players on the All-Tournament team with Carlisle, Ruggles, Falle and Joe Hughes earning slots on the team for their strong play.

The Eagles are back at home for a pair of games on Sept. 8 and 10. GSU faces North Florida on Saturday afternoon before hosting Mercer on Monday afternoon at Eagle Field.

 

UNCG 5, UNC Asheville 0

ASHEVILLE, N.C. – After scoring three goals in the first two games, the UNCG men’s soccer team had an offensive outburst Sunday afternoon as the Spartans posted a 5-0 victory over UNC Asheville at Greenwood Field for their first victory of the season.

The Spartans had four different players score goals in the victory with senior forward Hakan Ilhan leading the way with two goals for his sixth career two-goal game.

The Spartans dominated play from the beginning, holding a 25-6 edge in shots for the game and scoring three first-half goals.

UNCG opened the scoring in the 11th minute of play as junior Maximilian drove down the sideline and sent a cross into the box. Junior Oddur Gudmundsson ran on to the end of the cross and drilled it into the back of the net from five yards out for his second goal of the season.

UNCG extended its lead to 2-0 just under eight minutes later as Schulz once again was involved in the play, picking up his second assist of the afternoon and team-leading third of the season. He sent a corner kick into the box, where freshman Lukas Zarges ripped a header into the back of the net for his first career goal.

The Spartans continued to attack and ran their lead to 3-0 in the 25th minute of play. Zarges sent a cross into the six-yard box, where Ilhan found some space and easily beat the UNC Asheville goalkeeper for his first tally of the season. The goal capped a stretch of 14:20 in the first half that saw the Spartans score three goals, matching their output from the first two games.

The second half was much of the same with the Spartans controlling play with a dominating 14-1 edge in shots. Ilhan scored his second goal of the game in the 56th minute of play as he gained possession outside the 18-yard box and drove past a couple of Bulldog defenders before beating goalkeeper Dan Jackson to give UNCG a 4-0 lead.

The Spartans wrapped up the impressive victory in fitting action, scoring in the game’s final minute to increase the final total to 5-0. Sophomore Austin Miller sent a beautiful ball just outside the 18-yard box to redshirt senior Ross Burki. Burki took advantage of some open space the struck a shot high into the corner of the goal for his fourth career tally and a five-goal lead.

The five-goal victory is the most for the Spartans since defeating Georgia Southern by the same score last October and improved UNCG to 12-0-1 all-time against the Bulldogs. Senior goalkeeper Peyton Ford and redshirt freshman Stephen Moffitt combined for the shutout as Ford made one save.

UNCG concludes its four-game road swing to open the 2012 season as it travels to Farmville, Va., for a nonconference meeting against Longwood on Tuesday. Game time is set for 7 p.m.

 

College of Charleston 1, Dayton 0

MT. PLEASANT, S.C. – The College of Charleston men’s soccer team championed the 12th annual NIKE / Aaron Olitsky Memorial Classic behind an 89^th-minute goal by Francis Twohig, which lifted the Cougars to a 1-0 victory over Dayton in the tournament finale on Sunday afternoon at Patriots Point.

The Dayton victory, paired with the Cougars’ 2-1 win over Stanford on Friday night, saw the Cougars emerge as the only undefeated team in Classic play.

After a two-way first half, the Cougars dominated possession in the second half and peppered the Flyers with 14 shot attempts, six of which were on frame. CofC spent a vast majority of the second period in the attacking third and managed to string passes together and maintain possession of the ball.

After several near misses, the Cougars inevitably broke the Flyer defense down in the 89th minute when George Khoury served a ball into the box from the right-hand corner. Connor Coons rose above the crowd and headed the ball toward the far post, where Twohig headed it back across the goal mouth and into the right-side netting.

Kees Heemskerk made seven saves on the day to preserve the shutout. Heemskerk was named the Aaron Olitsky Tournament MVP after the conclusion of the match.

The Cougars won the shot battle by a 22-15 count with the help of a 14-5 second-half advantage. Ralphie Lundy led that effort with four shot attempts and two on frame. Lundy, along with Heemskerk, Shawn Ferguson and Sam Redmond were all on the all-tournament team after stellar play throughout the weekend.

CofC also proved itself the more disciplined team by committing five fouls compared to Dayton’s 11.

The Cougars return to action Friday when the team heads to Greenville, S.C., for the Furman Diadora/Spinx Tournament. CofC opens the tournament with Memphis on Friday at 4:30 p.m.

Aaron Olitsky All-Tournament Team: Kees Heemskerk (MVP) (CofC), Shawn Ferguson (CofC), Ralphie Lundy (CofC), Sam Redmond (CofC), Greg Enstone (Dayton), Daniel Berko (Dayton), John Howe (Dayton), Coleton Henning (Furman), Martin Ontiveros (Furman), Ty Thompson (Stanford), Tyler Conklin (Stanford).

 

Winthrop 2, Wofford 1 (OT)

SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Wofford men’s soccer team was defeated by Winthrop 2-1 in overtime of the final game of the SoCon/Big South Soccer Challenge Sunday afternoon. The Terriers drop to 1-2-0 on the season, while the Eagles improve to 2-1-0.

In the sixth minute of overtime, Winthrop was given a free kick from just across midfield. Adam Brundle sent a low cross into the box that went untouched until Mason Lavallet was able to score past Wofford keeper Andrew Drennan for the game-winner.

Neither team was able to generate much offense in the first half until the 39th minute, when Lavallet gave Winthrop the lead. Lavallet collected the ball in the left side of the 18-yard box near the end line. He then curved a shot past Drennan that deflected off the far post and into the net to give Winthrop a 1-0 lead.

In the first half, Wofford held the advantage in shots (5-2) and corners (4-3) but trailed 1-0 at the break.

Wofford was strong on the attack in the second half as it fought to equalize. The Terriers finally broke through with only five minutes to play in regulation when Forrest Lasso headed home a long throw-in by Billy Padula. It was Lasso’s first goal of the season and Padula’s second assist.

After 90 minutes, the teams were still tied despite the Terriers’ advantage in shots (16-8) and corners (10-5).

Drennan allowed two goals on eight shots and fell to 1-2-0 for the season. Eagle keeper Tom Banfield earned the win to improve to 2-1-0 on the year. He recorded three saves on 16 shots faced.

The Terriers return to action Friday against Bowling Green in Conway, S.C. The match is set to kick off at 5 p.m.

 

Ohio State 3, Davidson 2 (OT)

COLUMBUS, Ohio – After Ohio State forced overtime with a pair of late goals, Kenny Cunningham found the back of the net in the 97th minute to rally the Buckeyes past Davidson, 3-2, on the final day of the Wolstein Classic, Sunday at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium.

The loss dropped the Wildcats to 0-2-1 on the season, while the host Buckeyes improved to 1-2-1.

Despite playing a man down after Yianni Sarris was issued a red card in the 73rd minute, Ohio State got goals from Sebastian Rivas and Alex Bujenovic in 80th and 85th minutes, respectively, to force overtime.

For the second time in as many contests, Andrew DiLallo gave the Wildcats the early 1-0 advantage. The senior forward’s third career strike came in the 10th minute off an assist from Peter Paras.

At the 61:03 mark, Luke Blades made it a two-goal game when he slipped a free kick by Buckeye keeper Alex Ivanov for his first goal in a Davidson uniform.

In addition to their 25-14 advantage in shots, the Buckeyes finished with a 9-5 edge in corners.

Thanks to his two-goal performance this weekend, DiLallo and teammate Alex Givens were named to the all-tournament team.

The Wildcats return to action Saturday at 7 p.m. when they host Richmond in the opening round of the Davidson adidas Classic. Appalachian State and USC Upstate will also take part in the annual event at Alumni Stadium.

 

UNCW 1, Appalachian State 0 (OT)

BOONE, N.C. – After 90 minutes of scoreless action, the Appalachian State University men’s soccer team dropped its first match of the season, falling to UNCW 1-0 in overtime Sunday afternoon at the Ted Mackorell Soccer Complex.

With the loss, the Mountaineers fell to 2-1 on the young season, as the Seahawks earned their first win of the season, moving to 1-1-1.

After a few opportunities opened up in regulation, UNCW found some room in front of the Appalachian defense as Mateo Cardona fired a shot from 25 yards out and beat App State goalkeeper Danny Free to his left, hitting the top corner. For Cardona, it was his second of the season.

The Apps fired just as many shots as the Seahawks with 12. Three shots forced saves from UNCW goalkeeper Brad Newman. Sophomore Stanley Broaden and freshman Luke Adams led the way, both tallying three shots.

Defensively, UNCW’s goal was the first goal given up by the Mountaineers all season after starting the year with two shutouts. Free closed the match with three saves, highlighted by two key saves in the opening half.

The Mountaineers will look to bounce back on Saturday as they will face USC Upstate in the opening day of the Davidson adidas Classic. Kickoff is set for 5 p.m.