Wofford 3, Presbyterian 1
SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Wofford men’s soccer team scored three unanswered goals to come from behind Tuesday night and beat Presbyterian College 3-1 at Snyder Field.
With Wofford down 1-0 in the first half, a loose ball was propelled up in the air by Blue Hose defender Bruce Olivier. Terrier midfielder Jonathan Dean leaped for the ball and headed it over Blue Hose keeper Johnny Archer and into the net with one second on the clock to tie the game at halftime. It was the first goal of Dean’s collegiate career.
The Terriers (3-0-1) started the match at a tentative pace, and the Blue Hose pressed the Terrier defense early. In the 26th minute, midfielder John Speed launched a corner kick into the box that defender Matt Trimby headed home, giving the Blue Hose their 1-0 early lead.
In the 71st minute, midfielder Charlie Heffron passed a ball into the box from the right corner. Midfielder Will Puckett received the pass, took two dribbles to his left, and shot the ball toward the net. The ball deflected off a Presbyterian defender, then Archer’s outstretched hand, and finally found the back of the net to give Wofford a 2-1 lead.
Minutes later, a Presbyterian defender tripped a Wofford player in the box on a corner attempt to set up a penalty kick shot for midfielder Nestor Jaramillo. The senior struck the ball right while the keeper guessed the wrong direction, resulting in Jaramillo’s second goal of the season and the 18th of his career.
With the win, Wofford extends its home-field unbeaten streak to 10 straight games, dating back to the 2013 season. The Terriers also move to 16-8-1 all-time against Presbyterian.
Wofford next takes the field Saturday, traveling a few miles down the road to face crosstown rival USC Upstate for a 7 p.m. match.
UNCG 3, South Carolina 3 (2OT)
COLUMBIA, S.C. – The UNCG men’s soccer team rallied from two goals down in the final 30 minutes of regulation and dominated play for most of the game, posting a 3-3, double-overtime tie against South Carolina on Tuesday night at Stone Stadium.
The Spartans out-shot the Gamecocks by a 28-13 margin, held an 11-5 edge in corner kicks and maintained possession for almost 70 percent of the game.
With UNCG down 3-2 late in regulation, Damieon Thomas was hauled down in the Gamecocks’ box, awarding the Spartans a penalty kick. Freshman Leeroy Maguraushe stepped up to the penalty spot and ripped a shot into the top corner, tying the game with his second career goal in the 85th minute.
The Spartans continued their dominant play in the extra periods and had all of the dangerous chances. Francois had a chance in the 99th minute of play as his shot from 15 yards was just wide and Quin Lema saw his shot from 18 yards out ticketed for the corner punch away by keeper Marco Velez on a game-saving play in the 100th minute.
South Carolina took a 1-0 lead in the 36th minute as it took advantage of its first strong scoring chance of the game. Koty Millard made a run down the right-hand side and sent a cross to the top of the 18-yard box. Asa Kryst laid off a touch pass to an on-charging Danny Deakin, who beat senior goalkeeper Logan Rohde in the bottom right corner.
The Gamecocks were able to take a 2-0 lead just before half, despite being out-shot 9-4 at that point in the game. South Carolina took advantage of a Spartan foul from 25 yards out. Deakin stepped up and ripped a shot over the UNCG wall and into the upper corner for his second goal of the game.
UNCG came out in the second half and controlled the run of play from the start of the second 45. The Spartans attacked the South Carolina defense continually and finally broke through in the 58th minute of play. Redshirt sophomore midfielder Rouven Wahlfeldt took the ball at the midline and sent a long ball to the top of the 18-yard box. Thomas beat his defender to the ball and headed the ball over the head of Velez for his second goal of the season, pulling the Spartans within one at 2-1.
South Carolina responded just 3:16 later as it took advantage of its first scoring chance in the second half. Ryan Arambula took a shot from 25 yards out that was easily blocked by a UNCG defender. The ball took a wild bounce and found the foot of Deakin, who deposited it into the back of the net for his third goal of the game and a 3-1 lead in the 61st minute.
The third goal for the Gamecocks ignited the Spartans’ attack even more as it basically held possession and attacked for the final 30 minutes of the second half. The Spartans were pushing from all angles and Nicholas Downs made a long run from the backline through the South Carolina defense. He was able to turn the corner on the defense and ripped a shot on goal. The ball ricocheted off a South Carolina defender and straight into the goal to narrow the UNCG deficit to 3-2.
The Spartans return home for the first of three straight home games beginning Friday evening as they host UT-Rio Grande Valley. Game time is set for 7 p.m. at the UNCG Soccer Stadium.
USC Upstate 3, VMI 0
SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Hoping for its first road victory of the season, the VMI men’s soccer team fell on the road to USC Upstate by a 3-0 score Tuesday night at County University Stadium.
Upstate’s Gordon Wild, who scored four goals in the Spartans’ previous game against Presbyterian last weekend, added two goals against the Keydets with the first coming at the 12:24 mark, taking an assist from Leon Schwarzer and putting it into the net for an early 1-0 lead.
The Keydet defense was on its heels for the majority of the game with the ball consistently on the VMI side of the pitch as Upstate logged 21 shots to VMI’s seven, including 10 on goal to two for the Keydets.
Travis Borkey and Todd Johnson tallied two shot attempts apiece for VMI, while Upstate’s Wild had seven on the night. He would add another goal at the 59:17 mark of the second half before Michelangelo Dovidio put in another at 74:20 to lift the Spartans to the 3-0 victory.
VMI keeper Alex Guerra earned seven saves throughout the game while winning goalie Hassan Haddad registered two saves for Upstate.
The Keydets return to action Saturday for another road game to take on Liberty for a 6 p.m. start in Lynchburg, Virginia.