Elon 3, Mercer 2 (2OT)
WILMINGTON, N.C. – Charles Howard scored the golden goal in the 110th minute to help the Elon men’s soccer team to a 3-2, double-overtime win over Mercer on Friday night at the Hilton Garden Inn Classic, hosted by UNCW.
Howard’s decisive goal came in the waning minutes of the second extra period as the Phoenix (2-0-1) defeated the Bears (0-2-0) in the opening match of the tournament. Elon outshot Mercer 20-13 in the game, while both teams had 10 corner kicks.
Both squads had several opportunities to put points on the board in the opening stanza, but neither team could find the back of the net. The Phoenix had a pair of shots in the opening minutes of the match go wide or get corralled by the Bears. Matt Wescoe had a shot from the top of the box just a minute into regulation, but Mercer’s keeper made a clean save. Another attempt two minutes later by Myles Mansfield went just left of the box.
The Phoenix back line held Mercer without a shot attempt until the 19th minute, when Ian Antley’s strike was blocked by an Elon defender. The Maroon and Gold took control of possession on the following corner kick and nearly turned it into points at the other end. Mark Berlin’s shot from the right of the box was deflected out of bounds at the 21st minute to earn a Phoenix corner, but Elon could not get past the Bears’ defense.
Elon sophomore forward Cauê Da Silva had a pair of chances at the 43rd and 44th minutes to give the Phoenix the first points of the contest. Da Silva was able to beat his man from the left side of the box and had his shot blocked. Another shot within the box was corralled by the Bears and the teams went into the half scoreless.
Elon dominated the opening 45 minutes of the contest as the Phoenix outshot Mercer 6-3 and held a 6-1 advantage in corners. Nonetheless, Elon went scoreless in the first half for the third straight match.
Mercer broke the deadlock with a score in the 71st minute of the match. The Bears’ Ehjayson Henry fired a shot from 24 yards that deflected off an Elon defender. The ricochet managed to sneak through the far right post to put Mercer in front, 1-0.
The lead was short-lived, as the Phoenix answered quickly with the equalizer by James Brace a minute later. Brace followed his own rebound on a shot inside the box for the first goal of his career and tied the match at 1-1.
At the 80th minute, Elon’s Jason Waterman put Elon in front with a strike from 8 yards away thanks to helpers from Nathan Diehl and Mansfield. Mansfield took a cross from Diehl on the right side and chipped it to Waterman for the go-ahead score and a 2-1 lead.
Henry provided the tying goal in the 85th minute as he fired a strike from the right side with a slight deflection off a defender. The game would go into the extra time knotted at 2-2.
Elon nearly had the golden goal in the 94th minute as Mansfield’s header on a cross hit the crossbar.
With less than a minute remaining in the second overtime, Howard was able to push his first career score through the net for the golden goal. Howard took a shot from 22 yards away that deflected off a defender and found its way inside the right post.
Elon’s Nathan Dean made five saves as he played every minute between the posts. Mercer’s keeper Greg Ranjitsingh had nine stops for the Bears.
The Phoenix returns to the pitch to close out the tournament on Sunday vs. Presbyterian at 1 p.m.
Appalachian State 5, UNC Asheville 0
BOONE, N.C. – Appalachian State returned to action on Friday night when it hosted UNC Asheville. The Mountaineers dominated throughout all 90 minutes to earn a convincing 5-0 victory.
The Mountaineers got started early with a score from Stephen Chapman. The goal was set up beautifully with a pass from Stanley Broaden to a trailing Chapman, who ripped a shot in the upper left 90 to score his first goal of the year in the eighth minute of the game. Bulldog keeper Dan Jackson had no chance at a save on the cannon shot.
Shortly thereafter, Broaden’s unselfish pass would pay off. Luke Adams played a great long ball down the far sideline that sailed over the heads of the Bulldogs back line and allowed Broaden to settle the ball and get a shot off that was saved initially by Jackson. Broaden got a second chance off the rebound and made it count, tallying his first goal of the season in the 16th minute.
The two goals scored in the first 16 minutes of play would be it for the first half and the Mountaineers would go into the locker room with a two-goal advantage.
In the 66th minute, it was Broaden again, scoring on a misplay by Jackson in the box. Jackson had the ball passed back to him and therefore could not pick it up and fumbled it with his feet, allowing Broaden to attack and score.
Ewahia Amhanesi played 32 minutes on the night and made them all count. Amhanesi utilized his speed on a play in the 87th minute that opened up a breakaway opportunity that he was able to capitalize on to net his first goal of the season.
Two minutes later, it was Donovan Japp who was able to put his head to good use off of a blocked shot from Keegan Tanaka and was able to beat Jackson for the fifth goal of the game for the Mountaineers.
Danny Free earned his second clean sheet of the season and the 15th of his career for the Mountaineers. Free made two saves on the night.
In all, Appalachian State outshot UNC Asheville 19-2, including a 13-2 advantage in shots on goal.
Appalachian State will return to action on Tuesday when it travels to Virginia to face Radford. Kick off for that match is set for 6 p.m.
Temple 3, Wofford 0
PHILADELPHIA – The Wofford men's soccer team lost to Temple University, 3-0 Friday afternoon in its first of two matches during the team’s trip to Philadelphia, Pa. Jared Martinelli scored all three of the Owls’ goals.
The Terriers fell to 0-3-0 overall for the season, while the Owls improved to 2-0-0 overall.
In the first half, Temple struck first with a goal in the first five minutes of the match. Midfielder Jared Martinelli put the Owls on the score sheet first with his second goal of the season in the fifth minute off a pass from fellow midfielder Miguel Polley to make the score 1-0.
The Terriers dominated the first half in shots 13-4 but were unable to capitalize on any of their chances as the score remained 1-0 going into the break.
In the second half, the Owls extended their lead 2-0 in the 47th minute. Martinelli scored his second goal of the match on a header off of a cross from forward Chas Wilson.
Temple would score its final goal in the 66th minute when Martinelli completed his hat trick by slotting a ball into the back of the net off a pass from midfielder Willie Chalfant. The goal was Martinelli’s fourth of the season.
The Terriers fought hard but could not create as many opportunities in the second half as they suffered their third loss of the season.
For the match, the Terriers outshot the Owls 17-10, and had the advantage in corners, 9-2.
For Wofford, freshman Garrett Closs suffered his third loss of the season as he faced eight Temple shots and made three saves. Freshman Joe Wichmann made his first career appearance, playing for 17 minutes, facing two shots and making one save.
For the Owls, junior Dan Scheck earned his second win of the season, facing 17 Terrier shots and making three saves.
Wofford is back in action Sunday when it takes on St. Joseph’s University for the second match of the Philadelphia trip. The match will kick off at 12 p.m. The Terriers' home opener at Snyder Field is on Wednesday, Sept. 11, when they host Liberty University at 5 p.m.