Wofford 3, Georgia Southern 0
STATESBORO, Ga. – Freshman forward Matthew Aurednik scored twice for the Terriers as the Wofford men’s soccer team defeated the Eagles of Georgia Southern 3-0 Saturday evening at Eagle Field.
With the win, the Terriers extended their winning streak to six and their unbeaten streak to seven, improving their overall record to 6-3-1 and 2-0-0 in the Southern Conference. The Eagles fell to their sixth loss of the season, moving to 4-6-0 overall and 0-2-0 in Southern Conference play.
In the first half, Georgia Southern would have the first two opportunities of the match, having two shot attempts in the third minute from Thomas Valikonis and Witt Carlisle saved by Wofford’s freshman goalkeeper Garrett Closs.
The Terriers would draw first blood in the 12th minute when Aurednik finished off a one-on-one opportunity against Eagles goalkeeper Neal Bates for his second goal of the season, putting Wofford in front 1-0.
Both teams would create a couple more opportunities in the half, but the score would remain in Wofford’s favor going into the break 1-0.
In the second half, the Terriers would extend their lead 2-0 when they were awarded a penalty in the 57th minute. Aurednik would step up and convert from the spot for his second goal of the match.
Three minutes later, Wofford would score its third when junior defender Forrest Lasso would score a header inside the 6-yard box off of senior defender Billy Padula’s long throw-in. For Lasso, it was his third goal of the season. With the assist, Padula increased his season tally to seven, which leads the team and the Southern Conference.
The Eagles would get their first good opportunity of the half to get on the board when Carlisle had a shot saved by Closs in the 69th minute.
The rest of the half consisted of opportunities for both teams, but in the end the Terriers would finish on top 3-0.
For the match, Wofford outshot the Eagles 17-10, while Georgia Southern would win the corner battle 8-4.
Terriers goalkeeper Closs earned his third straight win and his second straight shutout, facing 10 Eagle shots and making five saves. Bates would fall to his fourth loss of the season, facing 17 Wofford shots and making four saves.
Wofford is back in action on Tuesday when it travels to Georgia State University for a nonconference matchup at 7 p.m. The Terriers’ next home match at Snyder Field is on Saturday, Oct. 12, when the they host Elon University in a Southern Conference matchup at 7 p.m.
Georgia Southern hosts Georgia State on Friday at 5 p.m.
No. 21 Elon 1, Appalachian State 0
ELON, N.C. – The No. 21 Elon men's soccer team earned a 1-0 win over Southern Conference foe Appalachian State on Saturday night in the league opener for the Phoenix in front of 1,607 fans at Rudd Field.
A first-half goal by sophomore James Brace proved to be the difference on a night that the Phoenix posted its fifth shutout of the year and improved to 9-1-1 overall and 1-0 in SoCon play. It was the also the 14th career clean sheet for junior keeper Nathan Dean, one shy for third place in school history.
Elon overtook the Mountaineers (2-2-6, 0-1-1 SoCon) in shots, 8-5, with a 4-2 mark on frame in the match. The Maroon and Gold also had a slight 4-3 advantage in corners.
Appalachian State nearly had the first score of the game near the fourth minute as Donovan Japp took a cross from Jackson Allen and nearly placed a header into the net before Dean knocked it out of play. The following corner kick led to Appalachian State not getting a shot off, but the Mountaineers continued to put pressure on the Phoenix back four in the opening minutes.
Elon's first clean look came at the 14th minute, but Mountaineer keeper Danny Free corralled Matt Wescoe's strike. Nearly 10 minutes later, Myles Mansfield misfired on a shot that went high from about 12 yards near the top of the box.
Brace would score the game's lone goal at the 29th minute, two minutes after entering the match as a sub. Jason Waterman initiated the play after taking the ball from Wescoe on the right side of the field and maneuvered past a couple of defenders to draw the keeper away. Waterman slipped a nice pass to Brace and the Hartlepool, England, native connected on his fourth score of the season.
Brace would nearly give Elon a few more chances to go up 2-0 before the end of the first half, but his shot at the 34th minute went wide and another attempt near the 40th minute was stopped by Free.
Elon held a 5-2 shot advantage in the opening stanza but had yet to attempt a corner in the match and trailed Appalachian State, 2-0.
Elon held off the Mountaineers in the second half to give the Phoenix its seventh straight victory against SoCon opponents dating back to last season. Elon also snapped Appalachian State's five-match unbeaten streak.
Elon will travel to Wofford next Saturday, Oct. 12, for a rematch of the 2012 Southern Conference tournament championship game. That match is slated for a 7 p.m. kick off.
Appalchian will return to the pitch next Saturday when it hosts UNCG at 7:30 p.m. from Appalachian Soccer Stadium.
UNCG 2, Campbell 2 (2OT)
BUIES CREEK, N.C. – Down two goals with less than 20 minutes left in regulation, the UNCG men’s soccer team rallied for two late goals to come away with a hard-fought 2-2 tie at hosting Campbell on Saturday night.
The Spartans outshot the Camels 13-5 after the first 45 minutes of the game to remain unbeaten against Campbell in the past 12 meetings, posting a 9-0-3 record over that stretch.
Campbell came out of the gate quickly as it scored two goals in the first 20 minutes of action on family weekend in Buies Creek. The Camels scored the game’s first goal in the 14th minute as Ricki Gaez scored on a counterattack, beating redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Stephen Moffitt for his second goal of the season.
The Camels were the recipient of a UNCG miscue in the 20th minute of play as the Spartans scored an own goal to give Campbell a 2-0 lead. The Spartans’ defense had a Campbell cross deflect off a defender and past Moffitt into the back of the goal for the two-goal advantage. Campbell held a 7-4 edge in shots in the first 45 minutes as it controlled play in the opening period.
UNCG regrouped in the second half and also made its first goalkeeper change of the season as redshirt junior Davis Griffin came on in relief for his first appearance of the year. The Spartans started to control the run of the play in the second half as they posted an 8-4 edge in shots.
The Spartans started their comeback in the 73rd minute as they scored on a counterattack rush. Junior Austin Miller made a run into the box and touched it off to freshman Rouven Wahlfeldt, who buried it past Campbell goalkeeper Ethan Hall into the back of the net for his first career goal.
UNCG kept the pressure going and tied the game just 6:02 later in the 79th minute as Wahlfeldt and Miller combined once again, this time in reverse order. Senior Jake Fields made a run from his backline position and sent a cross into the box. Wahlfeldt was able to get a touch on the cross and set it up for Miller, who slotted a right-footed shot past Hall to tie the game at 2-2. The goal was also Miller’s first of the season and his ninth goal of his career.
Miller nearly gave the Spartans the game-winning goal in the 87th minute as he broke free in the Camel zone only to see his shot from the left-hand side skirt just wide of the far post.
The Spartans kept pushing for the game-winning goal down the stretch and into overtime as they held a commanding edge in shots as Campbell played the final 24:53 down a man after a red card was issued. Senior Brian Graham had a chance in the 94th minute and sophomore Noah DeAngelo in the 97th minute but Hall was able to make the saves to keep the game knotted at 2 apiece.
Griffin picked up the tie in goal as he played the final 65 minutes and made one save in his first action of the season and his fifth career game. Hall posted five saves for the Camels as he played the entire 110 minutes in net.
The Spartans open Southern Conference play Tuesday night as they host rival Furman. Game time is set for 7 p.m. at the UNCG Soccer Stadium.
Jacksonville 2, Davidson 1 (2OT)
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Jack Burns’ goal with three minutes and 57 seconds left in the second overtime lifted Jacksonville to a 2-1 victory over Davidson in nonconference men’s soccer action Saturday evening at Southern Oak Stadium.
Wrapping up their season-long four-game road trip, the Wildcats fell to 5-4-1 overall, while JU improved to 2-5-1.
Despite the loss, Davidson finished with a 13-9 advantage in shots, including seven on frame. The Dolphins made the most of their opportunities, finding the back of the net with two of their three shots on goal.
For the second straight contest, the Wildcats found themselves in an early deficit after giving up a seventh-minute strike. Nathan Dalton gave the Dolphins’ the 1-0 advantage with his first goal of the season on an assist from Juan Arguedas.
After threatening with a number of chances, Davidson finally got on the board in the 65th minute, when Valeriy Sviderskiy evened the score with his sixth goal in the last seven games. Drew Brown set up the sophomore’s 10th career goal.
Shane Macnamara paced the Wildcats with three shots, including two on goal.
Marc Meny led both keepers with a game-high six saves, while Matt Pacifici stopped one shot for Davidson.
Davidson returns to Alumni Stadium on Wednesday for a 7 p.m. contest against Big South foe Liberty.