Furman 1, College of Charleston 0
GREENVILLE, S.C. – Freshman Eli Pinner fired a shot into the lower left-hand corner in the 94th minute to give the Furman men’s soccer team a 1-0 victory over College of Charleston in the Gray Griffin Memorial Game on Saturday night on Seagraves Field at Stone Stadium.
After over 93 minutes of scoreless soccer, Pinner, who trotted on the field for his first collegiate action just moments earlier, rifled a 30-yard strike past College of Charleston goalkeeper Alex Young to improve the Paladins to 2-1-0 on the season and drop the Cougars to 1-2-0.
Saturday’s game was named in honor of former Paladin defender and United States Under-17 National Team captain Gray Griffin, who was killed in a traffic accident in October 2002 during his freshman year at Furman. The 2001 and 2002 NSCAA and Parade All-America selection played in and started the first 12 matches of the 2002 campaign for Furman.
The Furman defense limited the Cougars to just one shot on goal while compiling a 4-1 advantage on shots on goal and 16-7 lead in total shots on Saturday night.
College of Charleston produced its best chance of the match early in the first half when Xavier Rajpaul collected the ball on the right side of the box and banged a shot off of the right post. The Paladins forced Young into a pair of first-half saves and had a possible call for a penalty kick waved off after Josh Lietch rounded his man in the box and went to the ground.
Furman increased the pressure on Charleston’s defense in the second half as the Paladins outshot the Cougars 9-3. Senior Michael Gandier got a head on the end of a set piece only to miss wide, and Martin Ontiveros saw a dangerous free kick from the left side go wide of the near post midway through in the second half.
Pinner, who did not appear in Furman’s first two matches of the campaign, took the field for overtime. On just his second touch of the night, he settled the ball in space beyond the top of the box and lined a shot through traffic to the corner for the winning strike.
Sophomore Sven Lissek notched one save to earn his first career clean sheet in goal for the Paladins. Young totaled three saves in a losing effort for the Cougars.
Furman continues its three-game homestand next weekend when it hosts Presbyterian and Vermont. The Paladins entertain the Blue Hose at 7 p.m. on Friday before welcoming the Catamounts to Stone Stadium at noon on Sunday, Sept. 15.
Tickets for each game are $4 for adults and $2 for children. Furman students get in free with a valid student ID card.
UNCG 1, James Madison 0
HARRISONBURG, Va. – The UNCG men’s soccer team improved to 3-0-0 on the season as the Spartans posted their second straight road victory with a 1-0 win versus James Madison at University Park on Saturday night.
UNCG has won its first three games to open the season for the first time since 2004, when the Spartans finished 19-3-1. UNCG also picked up its first win at JMU in program history.
Redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Stephen Moffitt posted his third straight shutout in his third career start as he made a career-high four saves in the victory. This season marks the first time UNCG has opened the year with three clean slates since 1983, when the Spartans won a national championship with a 23-1-1 record and only allowed nine goals on the season.
Senior defender Mahdi Ali netted his second goal of the season and his second of his career in the victory, finding the back of the net in the 77th minute. The original play saw forward Justin Jones rip a shot off that JMU goalkeeper Kyle Morton was able to save.
James Madison cleared the ball out of the 18-yard box, but Ali took the clearance and used the space available to fire a shot form 25 yards out through traffic before finding its way past Morton and into the back of the net for the game-winning goal.
Sophomore midfielder Lukas Zarges led the Spartans’ attack with a team-high four shots as UNCG outshot the Dukes 14-11. Freshman Rouven Wahlfeldt added two shots in the victory.
The Spartans return home to the UNCG Soccer Stadium, where they will play two straight and five of their next six games beginning Wednesday night as they host Triad rival High Point at 7 p.m.