Davidson 2, Georgia Southern 1
STATESBORO, Ga. – Davidson got goals from Alex Feliciano and Valeriy Sviderskiy as the Wildcats defeated Georgia Southern, 2-1, in Southern Conference men’s soccer action Sunday afternoon at Eagle Field.
The triumph ends a three-game slide for the Wildcats as they improve to 5-3-1 overall and 1-1-0 in league play, while the Eagles fell to 4-5-0 and 0-1-0.
Witt Carlisle put GSU up 1-0 after just 6:18 of match time. Jeremy Rector earned the assist by centering a ball to Carlisle, who had an empty net for his third goal of the season.
Just 17 seconds after Carlisle gave GSU the early 1-0 advantage, Feliciano evened the score with his first strike of the season off a long cross from Chris Pettiglio.
Prior to intermission, Jake Keator was unable to convert a penalty kick that would have put the Wildcats up, 2-1.
Sviderskiy continued his impressive play as the sophomore netted the eventual game-winner 7 minutes and 30 seconds into the second half, when he followed up his own shot. In addition to it being his team-leading fifth goal of the season, it was the ninth of his brief career.
The Wildcats were very efficient on the offensive end putting 11 of their 18 shot attempts on frame.
Georgia Southern’s Neal Bates led both keepers with nine saves. Matt Pacifici was solid in goal for the Wildcats, recording three saves en route to his third win of the season.
Davidson will conclude its season-long four-game road trip with a 5 p.m. kickoff at Jacksonville on Saturday.
Next up for the Eagles is another home game, with Wofford making the trip to Statesboro next Saturday at 7 p.m.
Appalachian State 1, No. 17 Furman 1 (2OT)
BOONE, N.C. – Tyler Peoples’ second-half goal helped Furman claim a point in its Southern Conference opener as the Paladins and Appalachian State Mountaineers played to a 1-1 draw on Sunday afternoon.
The deadlock snapped Furman’s six-match winning streak but extended its unbeaten run to seven games as the Paladins moved to 7-1-1 on the season. The Mountaineers moved to 2-1-6 overall and 0-0-1 in the SoCon.
Appalachian State started out on the attack in the first half as Trey Hemphill forced the Paladins to clear a shot off of the goal line in the 11th minute. The Mountaineers found the breakthrough shortly after as Donovan Japp headed in Alex Herbst’s cross at the 26:18 mark for a 1-0 lead.
Furman turned up the pressure for the remaining 18 minutes of the period, forcing the Mountaineers into three saves, but the Paladins trailed 1-0 at intermission.
The match turned more physical in the second half with Appalachian State defending its lead. The Mountaineers held the Paladins without a second-half shot on goal until keeper Danny Free stopped Trevor Haberkorn’s 74th minute effort.
Just moments later, Clint Ritter crossed a ball into the box and Peoples headed it past Free to knot the match at 1-1 at the 75:27 mark. For Peoples, it was his fourth tally of the season and fourth in Furman’s last five matches.
Appalachian State responded by forcing Paladin goalkeeper Sven Lissek into three more saves before the match headed to overtime. The Paladins outshot Appalachian State 6-0 over two extra periods, but Free managed to handle the only two shots on target from Furman.
Free stopped six shots on the afternoon, while Lissek turned away three Appalachian State attempts on goal.
Furman compiled a 22-7 edge in total shots and a 7-5 advantage in shots on goal.
The Paladins return to SoCon action on Tuesday when they travel to Greensboro, N.C., to face rival UNCG at 7 p.m.
Appalachian State is back in action at Elon on Saturday at 7 p.m.