Furman 3, VMI 0
LEXINGTON, Va. – Midfielder Eli Pinner tallied a goal and added an assist as Furman cruised to a 3-0 victory over VMI in the men's soccer league opener for both teams on Saturday afternoon at a rainy Patchin Field.
With Furman (2-3-2, 1-0 SoCon) dominating the possession and the chances in the opening third of the match, freshman Danny Kierath put the Paladins in front at 29:50 on his first collegiate goal. Pinner received the ball at the corner of the box and drew a defender before playing a pass into the path of Kierath. The rookie rocketed a left-footed shot into the lower left-hand corner from 19 yards on a one-timer to break the scoreless draw.
Less than five minutes into the second half, Kevin Pahl fed a pass to Pinner, who hammered a 20-yard effort that took a deflection before finding the top shelf to give the Paladins a 2-0 lead at the 49:38 mark. The goal marked the second of the season for Pinner.
Junior Bobby Edet capped the scoring in the 77th minute by beating the VMI (0-8-0, 0-1 SoCon) defense and chipping a 15-yard shot over the charging goalkeeper for his second tally of the campaign.
Senior Sven Lissek, who returned to the Paladin lineup for the first time since the first half of the Sept. 15 match versus Clemson, recorded two saves to notch his first shutout of the season.
Furman totaled a season-high 29 shots and managed a 12-2 edge in shots on goal en route to the win.
The Paladins return to Stone Soccer Stadium next Saturday when head coach Doug Allison's club plays host to the UNCG Spartans. Kickoff is set for 1:30 p.m. and the match will be streamed live on the SoCon Digital Network.
The Keydets play their final nonconference match of the season Tuesday with a game at ACC opponent Pitt at 7 p.m. in Pittsburgh, Pa. VMI then resumes league play on the road Friday at ETSU.
West Virginia 1, UNCG 0
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The UNCG men’s soccer team closed out the nonconference season with a hard-fought 1-0 loss on the road at West Virginia on Saturday afternoon at Dick Dlesk Stadium. The Spartans played the final 48:39 down a man after a red card was issued and held the Mountaineers off the board until the 84th minute of play.
UNCG opens Southern Conference play Tuesday night at home when the Spartans welcome in Mercer to the UNCG Soccer Stadium at 7 p.m. The Spartans enter league play with a 4-4-1 overall record. UNCG’s four losses have all been by one goal with two of the losses coming in overtime.
West Virginia finally broke through in the scoreless game with the man advantage in the 84th minute of play. The Mountaineers sent a cross into the box, where Tucker Stephenson was able to head it past senior goalkeeper Logan Rohde for the game’s lone goal.
The Spartans, playing their fourth game in nine days, played a season-high 23 players in the loss, using their bench thoroughly in the final tune-up before league play. UNCG had its best scoring chance of the first half in the 33rd minute of play. Junior defender Quin Lema found some space pushing up from his backline position and ripped a shot on goal that WVU goalkeeper Alex Boerner made a diving save on to keep the Spartans off the board.
UNCG fell down a man in the 42nd minute of play as junior defender Hugo Coicaud was called for a foul outside the 18-yard box. Coicaud was deemed to be the last defender on the foul and was issued a red card, sending him off as the Spartans played the rest of the game with just 10 players on the field.
Despite being down a man, the Spartans got stronger as the game went along and continued to generate chances against the Mountaineers. Freshman midfielder Leeroy Maguraushe came within inches of giving the Spartans the lead in the 80th minute of play as his shot was saved by Boerner to keep the game scoreless.
Mercer 1, Lipscomb 0
MACON, Ga. – The Mercer University men's soccer team recorded its third straight shutout as the Bears defeated Lipscomb, 1-0, on Saturday night at Bear Field.
Conner Antley notched the only goal of the game in the 78th minute when he headed it in the net off a cross from Jordan Duru. The Bears held on to the lead for the final 12 minutes to emerge victorious.
Antley's goal was his third of the season, all of which have been game-winning goals for the Bears. Duru dished out his second assist of the season.
Mercer led Lipscomb in corner kicks, 12-2, including a 6-0 mark in the first half. Mercer also led Lipscomb in shots, 14-9, and shots on goal, 8-4.
Jeremy Booth notched four saves and recorded his third straight shutout and fourth of the year.
The Mercer defense has now gone more than 273 minutes without giving up a goal. Additionally, in the past three games, Mercer has only allowed its opponents to place 10 shots on goal.
Mercer improves to 5-3 on the season, while Lipscomb falls to 2-5-1.