Wofford 2, Mercer 1
SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Wofford College men’s soccer team battled for a 2-1 victory over the Mercer Bears on Wednesday night at Snyder Field to claim the top spot in the Southern Conference standings.
The Wofford Terriers (8-4-0, 4-1-0 SoCon) and Mercer Bears (8-5-0, 4-1-0 SoCon) are now tied atop the Southern Conference standings, with Wofford owning the tiebreaker for the top spot. The night’s match marks the conference season’s halfway point, with each team facing every opponent once. With the new home-and-home format, each SoCon team will face every team once more before the conference tournament begins.
The Terriers claimed the victory in dramatic fashion, scoring with just three and a half minutes to spare. Wofford’s score began on a throw-in from junior defender Kevin Hady. The pass went into defender Forrest Lasso, who flipped the ball to senior defender Charlie Keeley, who tapped home the match-deciding goal. Keeley’s goal marked his second of the season.
The two teams fought hard in the Terrier win, both making plenty of chances on offense. Wofford outshot Mercer, 21-15, with nine attempts for the Terriers on goal and four for the Bears. The two sides combined for 24 fouls, with Mercer’s Ian Antley earning the only yellow card of the match.
The two squads felt one another out in the first half, with neither side earning a goal. The Terriers saw their closest chance of the first half came on the foot of junior forward Nestor Jaramillo in the 39th minute, when he hit the post on a shot from just inside the 18-yard box.
Jaramillo wouldn’t be denied in the second. Just two minutes into the second half, the forward took a free kick from 23 yards out. The ball rocketed into the top left corner of the goal past Mercer’s Greg Ranjitsingh to put the Terriers up, 1-0.
Mercer refused to go down without a fight. At the 64:47 mark, Carson Brooks made it level pegging. The freshman forward booted the ball into the right side of the net after a corner kick came in and he intercepted a Wofford clearance.
The mood grew tense minutes later, when a Wofford foul inside the box led to a penalty kick for Mercer. Jordan Duru shot the ball on target to the left side of the goal, but sophomore keeper Garrett Closs fully extended to grab the deciding save.
Following Keeley’s score, the Terriers would play dominant defense for another three minutes to ride out the 2-1 victory. Closs earned his seventh victory of the season, while Ranjitsingh left with a loss despite a seven-save outing.
The Terriers are back in action Saturday, when they travel to Johnson City, Tenn., to take on ETSU. The two last played on Sept. 30, when the Terriers earned a 4-3 victory at home. The two squads kick off at 7 p.m.
Next up, Mercer travels to Greensboro, N.C., to face UNCG on Saturday, Oct. 18, at 7 p.m. The Bears will return home on Tuesday, Oct. 21, to face Wofford at 7 p.m.
UNCG 3, VMI 0
GREENSBORO, N.C. – The UNCG men’s soccer team notched its second straight shutout and moved within two points of first place in the Southern Conference Wednesday night as the Spartans posted a 3-0 victory over league foe VMI at the UNCG Soccer Stadium. The game was originally scheduled for Tuesday night on the road but was moved due to inclement weather and field conditions.
The Spartans held a commanding 18-5 edge in shots and a 14-2 advantage in corner kicks in the game they controlled from start to finish. Junior forward Jacques Francois led the way with five shots on the night as he was dangerous with every touch, finishing with a pair of assists. The victory improved the Spartans to 3-1-1 in SoCon play, good for 10 total points, trailing Wofford and Mercer, which are tied with 12 points apiece.
The Spartans struck first, capitalizing on their initial dangerous attempt in the 28th minute of action. UNCG had possession in the VMI end with a long throw-in and the initial attempt was cleared out. The Spartans sent the ball back into the box, where Francois was able to possess the ball with a Keydet defender on his back. Francois dropped the ball back to the top of the 18-yard box, where freshman defender Eric Gunnarsson ripped his first touch past VMI goalkeeper Alex Guerra for his first career goal and the 1-0 lead.
The Spartans quickly took a 2-0 lead, finding the back of the net just under three minutes later in the 31st minute of play. Junior forward Dustin Gamradt gained possession of the ball 40 yards out and flicked a ball over the backline of the Keydets. Senior forward Austin Miller ran behind the defense and had a perfect first touch that sprung him on a breakaway. He quickly poked the ball past the oncoming goalkeeper for his third goal of the season and a 2-0 lead.
The Spartans had two goals called back early in the second half on offside calls before having a flurry of chances in the 72nd minute of action. Francois beat his defender and was able to turn on the end line before ripping a shot on goal that Guerra saved. The rebound came out in front, where junior midfielder Lukas Zarges beat his defender to the ball. Zarges’ shot from 6 yards out was also saved by Guerra and the ball came out to the top of the 18-yard box, where sophomore Nicholas Downs sent a bending shot that just went over the crossbar.
The Spartans had another chance in the 78th minute of action as Francois and sophomore Christopher Reingen combined just outside the 18-yard box. Francois took the pass in space and sent a through ball in to sophomore Chandler Chappell. Chappell was in alone against Guerra, who was able to get enough of the ball to keep it out of the back of the net.
UNCG wrapped up the scoring in the 88th minute of play as again Francois was in the mix. He made a run down the left-hand side of the box and ripped a shot that Guerra was able to block back into play. Freshman Neico Regent pounced on the rebound and rifled a shot from 15 yards out into the back of the net for his first career collegiate goal.
Freshman goalkeeper William Pyle posted his second straight shutout and third of the season Wednesday. Guerra picked up the loss for the Keydets despite making nine saves as VMI fell to 0-5-0 in league action.
The Spartans continue their three-game home stand Saturday night as they host SoCon newcomer Mercer. The game begins the Spartans’ second swing through the league as each team will play a home-and-home series this year. Game time Saturday is set for 7 p.m. at the UNCG Soccer Stadium.
VMI wraps up an unscheduled four-game road swing this Saturday as the Keydets begin the second round of games in the Southern Conference. VMI is slated to take on Furman University at the Paladins’ Stone Soccer Stadium with a 2 p.m. kickoff.
ETSU 1, Furman 0
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. – ETSU scored from a set piece in the first half and weathered second-half pressure from the Paladins to down Furman, 1-0, in Southern Conference men’s soccer action on Wednesday night at Summers-Taylor Stadium.
The loss, Furman’s third straight, dropped the Paladins to 5-4-3 overall and 1-3-1 in the SoCon. ETSU improved to 6-6-0 overall and 2-3-0 in league play.
With the match scoreless in the 38th minute, ETSU drew a foul just outside the Paladins’ box and midfielder Kevin Pahl was issued a yellow card. The Buccaneers’ Joao Ramalho stepped up to line a shot under Furman’s leaping wall of defenders that beat goalkeeper Sven Lissek to give ETSU a 1-0 lead at the 37:53 mark. The deciding tally marked the eighth goal of the campaign for Ramalho.
After failing to register a shot on goal in the first half and just four total shots in the opening 45 minutes, Furman turned up the pressure on the home side in the second half. The Paladins posted a 12-2 edge in shot attempts over the final 45 minutes and directed four shots on goal, but ETSU netminder Daniel Adelman recorded four saves to notch the shutout.
Evan De Ycaza was the first to force Adelman into a save in the early moments of the first half before Kyle McLagan had his diving header turned away in the 66th minute. Lewis Hawke’s header on target was stopped by Adelman in the 77th minute and the Paladins were whistled for a foul during a scramble in the goal mouth to thwart another late opportunity.
The Paladins finished with a 16-6 edge in shot attempts and earned nine corner kicks. Lissek stopped two shots in a losing effort for the Paladins.
Furman returns home on Saturday to celebrate Senior Day versus the VMI Keydets on Seagraves Field at Stone Soccer Stadium. Kickoff is set for 2 p.m.
ETSU hosts Wofford on Saturday at 7 p.m.