Mercer 3, No. 24 Furman 0
MACON, Ga. – The Mercer men’s soccer team rolled past No. 24 Furman, 3-0, on Saturday night to remain perfect in Southern Conference play.
The Bears improved to 8-4 overall and 4-0 in league play, while the Paladins moved to 5-3-3 and 1-2-1 in the SoCon. This marks the first time under the direction of head coach Brad Ruzzo that Mercer has started conference play with a 4-0 mark.
It took a while for the Bears to find the back of the net, but once they did, they kept on finding it. The game was scoreless for 72 minutes until Will Bagrou found Carson Brooks 10 yards out from the goal. Brooks dribbled and then took a shot from 5 yards out to score Mercer’s first goal.
Ian Antley added a goal in the 80th minute off a free kick to put Mercer up 2-0 and give it a little breathing room. Antley was assisted by Jordan Duru, who tapped the ball to Antley before he sailed it into the top right corner of the net.
Bagrou found Brooks again in the 83rd minute to increase Mercer’s advantage to 3-0. This time, Bagrou sent a short pass to Brooks, who dribbled a few yards and then sent the ball to the left corner of the net.
Mercer outshot Furman 19-10, including 14-5 in the second half.
In goal, Greg Ranjitsingh made six saves and notched his seventh shutout of the season.
Next up, Mercer travels to Wofford on Tuesday, Oct. 14. The match is set to being at 7 p.m. in Spartanburg, S.C.
Furman returns to action on Tuesday night when it travels to Johnson City, Tenn., to face ETSU.
Wofford 7, VMI 1
SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Wofford Terriers scored six goals in the second half to coast to a 7-1 victory over VMI on Saturday night at Snyder Field for head coach Ralph Polson’s 250th career win.
Junior forward Nestor Jaramillo scored the game-winner for the Terriers to begin the second-half scoring barrage. Two quick passes from Pierce Verchick and Connor Davis placed the ball at Jaramillo’s feet, where he shot the ball into the right side of the net for his fifth goal of the season.
The Terriers’ seven-goal offensive output was the most scored in a Wofford win since Sept. 3, 1997, in a 9-0 defeat of Limestone College.
The win over VMI marked Polson’s 54th at Wofford College. Polson also served as the head coach of Presbyterian College for 17 years, where he earned a record of 196-104-26.
The Terriers were dominant on offense, claiming the shot margin 29-5, 19-2 on goal. Wofford earned 11 corner opportunities during the match, while VMI had three. The Wofford bench was heavily utilized, with 27 players total seeing action for Wofford in the match.
Wofford scored first, striking at the 35:00 mark. Six minutes after being substituted into the match, senior Matt Frongello scored his first goal of the season to give the Terriers a 1-0 lead. Jaramillo passed the ball in from the left side, finding Frongello in the center of the box for the score.
VMI retaliated six minutes later, as Blake McCauley took a shot for the Keydets. The shot was deflected, when Hunter Morgan shot the rebounded ball into the left side of the goal to tie up the game. Despite a 12-2 edge in shots by the Terriers, the two sides entered halftime level.
Jaramillo scored the game-winner 10 minutes into the second half, opening the flood gates for the Terriers.
Senior captain Carlos Dominguez-Gonzalez found the back of the net twice in three minutes for the next two Wofford goals. The midfielder found his first goal of the match at the 58:56 mark, curving a ball over Keydet’s keeper Alex Guerra’s head to put the Terriers up 3-1. Two minutes later, Jaramillo sent a corner kick into the middle of the box to Dominguez-Gonzalez, who tucked a headed ball home for his third goal of the season.
Jaramillo helped his teammates again in the 68th minute, passing a low ball to outside back Ryan Hurst. The senior defender sprinted into the box, beating the keeper on the right side of the goal for his first goal of the season, bringing the score to 5-1.
There was a break in scoring until the last 10 minutes, when Wofford tacked on its last two goals. In the 83rd minute, junior forward Connor Copeland broke free and passed the ball to the top of the box, where junior midfielder Will Puckett was waiting. Puckett blasted the ball into the back of the net from the top of the 18-yard box for his second score of the season. Three minutes later, freshman Robin Hupin scored his first career goal, sending the ball in from the top of the 18-yard box on a back-heel pass from redshirt freshman Ralph Polson III.
The Terriers have a quick turnaround, playing next on Tuesday night against the conference-leading Mercer Bears. The match begins at 7 p.m. on Snyder Field.
VMI hosts UNCG on Tuesday at 4 p.m.
UNCG 2, ETSU 0
GREENSBORO, N.C. – The UNCG men’s soccer team scored two second-half goals and remained unbeaten at home in Southern Conference play as the Spartans downed ETSU 2-0 at the UNCG Soccer Stadium on Saturday night.
Freshman goalkeeper William Pyle posted five saves in the victory as he notched his second career shutout. The Spartans and Buccaneers were tied in shots at 10-10 but UNCG held a commanding 11-2 edge in corner kicks.
The Spartans had the first chance of the game in the 10th minute. Senior Austin Miller combined with junior Jacques Francois to make their way through the ETSU defense. Francois laid a ball off to junior forward Dustin Gamradt and he ripped a shot from 8 yards out that went just over the crossbar.
ETSU had its best chance of the first half in the 42nd minute. Joao Ramalho found some room from 25 yards out and sent a shot that got past Pyle but struck the goal post.
UNCG had two chances in the closing minutes of the first half as redshirt sophomore Corey Croegaert saw his header off a corner kick go wide in the 43rd minute. Sophomore Nicholas Downs got behind the ETSU defense and Buc goalkeeper Daniel Adelman thwarted his shot one-on-one.
The Spartans broke through against the Buccaneers in the 59th minute of action. Freshman midfielder Moises Gonzalez sent a perfectly timed through ball that carved its way through the ETSU defense. Gamradt ran onto the end of the pass and was in alone against Adelman. He placed the ball past the goalkeeper and into the back of the net for a 1-0 lead on his third goal of the year.
ETSU made a push and had its best chance of the second half in the 67th minute of play on a counterattack. The Spartans had a corner kick cleared from the box and ETSU sprung Ramalho on the break. He weaved his way through the Spartans defense and was in along on Pyle. His shot was ticketed for the upper corner, but Pyle made a full-extension diving save to keep the Spartans in the lead.
The Spartans extended their lead to 2-0 in the 77th minute of play. Francois made a run across the top of the 18-yard box and dropped off a pass to Christopher Reingen. Reingen struck a shot from 10 yards out that Adelman saved, but the rebound came right back to him and he didn’t miss on the second attempt, scoring his second goal in the last three games to give UNCG a 2-0 lead.
Ramalho continued to create chances in the closing minutes as he found space behind the Spartans’ back line. He got a chance in the 84th minute one-on-one against Pyle but was thwarted by the Spartans’ goalkeeper. Ramalho finished the game with eight of the Bucs’ 10 shots on the night.
The Spartans return to action Tuesday afternoon as they travel to SoCon newcomer VMI. Game time is set for 4 p.m. in Lexington, Va.
The Bucs will host a pair of SoCon games next week, taking on Furman on Tuesday, Oct. 14, and Wofford Saturday, Oct. 18, with both matches beginning at 7 p.m.