Wofford 2, No. 14 Furman 0
GREENVILLE, S.C. – Wofford scored two goals in the first 15 minutes of the match and played great defense for the whole 90 minutes to defeat No. 14 Furman 2-0 to clinch the 2013 Southern Conference regular-season title Saturday evening on Seagraves Field at Stone Soccer Stadium.
The regular-season title for Wofford is its first since 2009, when the Terriers won regular-season and tournament championships.
The regular-season title gives Wofford the No. 1 seed in the Southern Conference tournament, earning a bye into the semifinals, which will be played at Stone Stadium. The Terriers will play the winner of the first-round match-up between Furman and Davidson. If Davidson wins, the semifinal match will be on Nov. 15 at 5:30 p.m. If Furman is the Terriers’ opponent, the match will be played at 8 p.m.
The Terriers improved to 10-5-1 overall and finished 5-1-0 in the Southern Conference with the win. With the loss, the Paladins fell to 10-4-2 overall and finished 2-2-2 in Southern Conference play.
Wofford would create the first opportunity of the half in the third minute, when sophomore midfielder Connor Davis attempted a header off a long free kick that was saved by Furman goalkeeper Trent Johnson.
One minute later, junior defender Forrest Lasso would find the back of the net on a header off a long throw-in from senior defender Billy Padula to give the Terriers a 1-0 lead.
The Terriers continued the pressure in the first 10 minutes of the match when junior midfielder Nick Orton would take a shot from 20 yards in the sixth minute that was saved easily by Johnson.
Freshman forward Matthew Aurednik would extend Wofford’s lead to 2-0 in the 13th minute. After his first shot hit the post, he cleaned up the mess for his fifth goal of the season.
The Paladins would finally create two chances in the 27th minute. Marco Ortiz would take the first shot from 15 yards that was blocked by a Wofford defender. Off the rebound, Martin Ontiveros would receive a pass at the top of the 18 and place a shot heading for the top right corner of the net, but Wofford freshman goalkeeper Garrett Closs would make a tremendous save to keep the Paladins from scoring.
Wofford did put the ball into the net in the 43rd minute, but it called back by an offside call. The Terriers would go into the half with a 2-0 advantage.
Furman would create the first chance of the second half in the 55th minute, when Eli Pinner had a header shot off a cross miss wide.
Dylan Rowe would create another great opportunity for the Paladins when he dribbled into the box and fired a shot wide left of the goal in the 64th minute.
In the 65th minute, senior forward Chase West would have a great chance to extend Wofford’s lead, but his shot missed just over the goal.
Closs would make another huge save for the Terriers in the 67th minute when he saved Rowe’s shot from inside 10 yards, holding on to the save to keep the score at 2-0.
The Paladins continued the pressure, drawing a foul in the 77th minute outside the 18-yard box. Ontiveros took the free kick, and his attempt hit the crossbar.
Josh Lietch had another chance for Furman in the 78th minute but his header off a cross sailed just high of the goal.
The Terriers would play solid defense for the final moments of the match and stormed the field at the final whistle as they held on to defeat the 14th-ranked Paladins, 2-0.
For the match, Furman outshot Wofford 8-7 and also won the corner battle 3-1.
Closs had a huge game in goal for the Terriers, earning his seventh win and fourth shutout of the season, facing eight Furman shots and making two big saves. Johnson fell to his second loss of the season for the Paladins, facing seven Terrier shots and making two saves.
The Terriers are back in action before the SoCon tournament on Tuesday when they host nonconference opponent East Tennessee State for Senior Night at Snyder Field. It is the final match of the regular season for the Terriers and will kickoff at 7 p.m.
Fourth-seeded Furman will host No. 5 seed Davidson in a first-round SoCon tournament match on Saturday, Nov. 9, at 7:30 p.m.
Elon 4, UNCG 3
ELON, N.C. – Behind two second-half goals from junior Jason Waterman, the Elon University men’s soccer team came back from a 3-1 second-half deficit and earned a 4-3 win over UNCG on Saturday, Senior Night at Rudd Field.
The Phoenix improved to 13-4-1 on the year and 4-2 during the Southern Conference play with the win over the Spartans (8-8-2, 3-2-1 SoCon). The 13 regular-season wins are the most for the program at the Division I level and give head coach Darren Powell 92 at the school, one shy of tying the all-time program record.
The Phoenix closed out the regular season with its third straight win and second straight at home but had to battle after falling behind late in the first half. The Spartans jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the 43rd minute on an Oddur Gudmundsson strike from about 10 yards away. UNCG went into the half with the lead and momentum on its side after outshooting the Phoenix 7-3 in the first half.
Shortly after the start of the second stanza, Gudmundsson scored again to give UNCG a 2-0 advantage in the 46th minute. Gudmundsson headed in Lukas Zarges free kick from about 20 yards away and put the Phoenix in a two-score deficit.
Seconds later, the maroon and gold responded as Cauê Da Silva scored the first points of the match for the Phoenix on a bicycle kick inside the box. The score brought the Phoenix back within one, 2-1.
In the 57th minute, UNCG added another goal to move back in front by two, 3-1, after Zarges took a bending shot from the top of the box that went over Elon keeper Nathan Dean and into the back of the net.
Elon continued to throw numbers forward to bring the score within reach and did so in the 61st minute on a Waterman breakaway goal. A miscue by UNCG caused the ball to find the feet of Bloomington, Ind., native, who had broken free of his man and faced Spartan keeper Stephen Moffitt one-on-one down the left side of the box. Waterman was able to maneuver past Moffitt and sent in his eighth goal of the year to bring Elon back within one, 3-2.
Chasing the equalizer, Elon continued to put the pressure on the Spartan’s defense and finally evened the score at 3-all as James Brace sent in a rocket from within the box in the 75th minute. Brace took a rebound off a long cross that Waterman was able to deflect away from the defenders for his ninth score of the year and the first tie of the match.
With the momentum clearly in its favor, the Phoenix did not let up and continued to look for the go-ahead score. The persistence paid off in the 87th minute, as Waterman found the net for his second score of the match on a great sequence involving Brace and Da Silva. Da Silva had the ball deep in Spartans territory and sent a cross over to Brace, who found Waterman streaking down the right side.
Waterman managed to put a great touch on the ball and delivered a great floater over the keeper and put Elon up 4-3 with the eventual game-winner.
The Phoenix was able to send off its five seniors that were recognized prior to the match – Mark Berlin, Nick Butterly, Charles Howard, Daniel Lovitz and Matt Wescoe – as winners in their final regular-season home match. The quintet earned its 45th win as a class with the victory over UNCG, the most for any class at the Division I era.
Elon overtook the Spartans in shots, 15-11, with an 8-5 mark on frame. Elon also had a slight 3-2 advantage in corners.
The Phoenix clinched the No. 2 seed in the upcoming Southern Conference as Wofford captured the regular-season title on Saturday with a 2-0 win at Furman. Elon will host No. 7 seed Appalachian State in the opening round of the 2013 SoCon Championships next Saturday, Nov. 9, at 7 p.m.
UNCG clinched the No. 3 seed and will host No. 6 seed Georgia Southern on Nov. 9 at 7 p.m.