No. 2 seed Elon 5, No. 6 seed Georgia Southern 1
GREENVILLE, S.C. – No. 2 seed Elon scored four first-half goals and tacked on one more in the second half to cruise to a 5-1 win over No. 6 seed Georgia Southern on Friday in the first of two semifinal contests at the Southern Conference Men’s Soccer Championship at Furman’s Stone Stadium.
SoCon Player of the Year Daniel Lovitz and James Brace had a goal and an assist each for the Phoenix (14-4-2), which will face either No. 1 seed Wofford or No. 4 seed Furman in Sunday’s final. That contest will kick off at 1 p.m. and air live on ESPN3, with Darren Goldwater and Charlie Slagle on the call.
The Phoenix will be trying to win its third straight title.
Elon got things going by converting off a set piece in the 13th minute, starting with Lovitz sending a corner kick into the box. Samuel McBride nodded the ball to Jason Waterman in front of the net, and Waterman volleyed it home for the early 1-0 lead.
Matt Wescoe quickly made it a 2-0 game, converting passes from Miguel Salazar and Mark Berlin to double the lead just 2:25 after Waterman’s strike.
Wescoe nearly made it a 3-0 game in the 34th minute, but his shot from 15 yards out hit the crossbar and bounced down and back into play.
Caue Da Silva did make it a 3-0 contest in the 37th minute, taking a pass from Brace and racing in for a one-on-one with Georgia Southern keeper Neal Bates. Da Silva put it away far post for his fifth goal of the season.
Brace got in on the scoring act on a breakaway just minutes later, taking a beautiful pass from Austin Dunker about 40 yards out, drawing Bates off his line and putting it away one-on-one for his 10th goal of the season in the 41st minute.
The scoring continued early in the second half, with Elon drawing a penalty kick just 3:14 into the frame. Bates appeared to make the stop on Lovitz’s initial attempt, but he was ruled to have moved early, giving Lovitz another try. On the second attempt, Lovitz put it away to the lower right corner to make it a 5-0 contest. That score was his fourth of the year.
Georgia Southern’s Witt Carlisle broke up the shutout with just 5:35 left in the contest, taking a pass from Rocco Bagley and bending a right-footed shot past diving Elon keeper Nathan Dean.
The Eagles (9-10-0) couldn’t seem to get much else going consistently on offense but did have a few close calls.
Hunter Norton took a free kick from just outside the 18-yard box in the 28th minute and put it on frame, but Dean made a diving stop to keep the Eagles off the board.
One of the Eagles’ best scoring chances came in the 54th minute, when Bagley’s close-range attempt off a scrum in the box sailed high.
Less than two minutes later, Carlisle took a long-range attempt that had Dean beat, but the shot banged off the right post and out of harm’s way.
Ethan LaPan had another solid chance with about eight minutes left, drawing Dean off the line but seeing his shot skip just wide of the goal mouth and out of play.
Dean made two saves on the evening, while Bates made eight stops in the losing effort.
Wofford and Furman will kick off at 8 p.m. in Friday’s second semifinal.
The tournament winner earns the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Men’s Soccer Championship. The selection show can be seen at NCAA.com on Monday at noon.
No. 1 seed Wofford 2, No. 4 seed Furman 1
GREENVILLE, S.C. – Top-seeded Wofford got a goal in the 78th minute from Connor Davis to rally past No. 4 seed Furman on a rain-soaked Friday evening at Furman’s Stone Stadium in the semifinal round of the Southern Conference Men’s Soccer Championship.
Wofford (11-6-1) will face No. 2 seed Elon, a 5-1 winner over No. 6 seed Georgia Southern in Friday’s first semifinal, in the title match Sunday. That contest – a rematch of the 2012 final, won by Elon 2-1 – will kick off at 1 p.m. and air live on ESPN3, with Darren Goldwater and Charlie Slagle on the call.
Wofford will be seeking its second tournament title and first since 2009.
The tournament winner earns the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Men’s Soccer Championship. The selection show can be seen at NCAA.com on Monday at noon.
Davis scored with 12:32 remaining in the contest to put Wofford in front for the first time in the match between the heated SoCon rivals. Furman keeper Sven Lissek punched away a Ryan Hurst cross from the right wing but the ball found Davis just outside of the 18-yard box. With Lissek well off his line, Davis chipped in a shot for his SoCon-best 11th goal of the season.
Furman (11-5-2) managed just one shot in the first half but made it count, as Marco Ortiz scored the lone goal of the half to put Furman ahead 1-0. Dylan Rowe picked up the assist on the play, sending a low pass to the near post from the left wing in the 11th minute. Ortiz got a boot on it and pounded it home to put the tournament hosts ahead.
The Paladins carried the 1-0 lead into the half despite being outshot 7-1.
Wofford found the equalizer in the 48th minute on a spot kick. After a Terrier player was taken down in the box, Carlos Dominguez Gonzalez punched home the ensuing penalty kick to knot the game at 1.
The momentum would swing back Furman’s way, however, as the Paladins outshot Wofford 8-4 in the second frame before the Terriers put it away late.
Furman had a goal taken off the board with 36 minutes left, when Edet’s apparent second goal of the evening was negated by a Paladin handball in the box.
Martin Ontiveros had a pair of good scoring chances for Furman in the 58th minute, as he ripped a volley that was deflected just wide of the post to earn a corner and then had another shot on the ensuing chance stonewalled by Wofford keeper Garrett Closs.
Edet blasted a shot just wide of the left post in the 62nd minute as the Paladins continued to pepper the Wofford goal but couldn’t push one across.
Closs and Lissek had one save each in goal.
The game was a physical one, with 37 combined fouls and five cautions.
Semifinals, Friday, Nov. 15
Greenville, S.C.
Semifinal 1 – No. 2 seed Elon 5, No. 6 seed Georgia Southern 1
Semifinal 2 – No. 1 seed Wofford 2, No. 4 seed Furman 1
Championship, Sunday, Nov. 17
Greenville, S.C.
No. 2 seed Elon vs. winner of No. 1 seed Wofford, 1 p.m. (ESPN3)
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