November 3, 2012
No. 7 Seed Wofford Shocks Furman In SoCon Quarterfinals, 2-1
Greenville, S.C. – Carlos Dominguez Gonzalez scored on a header in the 83rd minute to help the seventh-seeded Wofford Terriers rally past Furman, 2-1, in the Southern Conference Men’s Soccer Quarterfinals on Saturday night on Seagraves Field at Stone Stadium.
The Terriers (10-8-1), who avenged a 4-3 double overtime loss versus Furman last Saturday in the regular season finale, advance to face Appalachian State in Thursday’s SoCon semifinals at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, N.C. The loss dropped Furman to 12-4-3.
With under eight minutes to play in regulation, Wofford’s Ryan Hurst served a cross into the box that Dominguez Gonzalez headed towards the far right post. The ball bounced off the post and Furman goalkeeper Sven Lissek dove to clear the ball, but the linesman ruled that the whole ball had crossed the line.
Furman pushed forward into the Wofford box in the final minutes and earned a corner kick with under 30 seconds left. Martin Ontiveros sent a cross into the box and John Lung’aho fired a shot that was blocked. The ball deflected back to Lung’aho who headed another shot towards goal only to have a Wofford defender clear the ball off the goal line as time expired.
Andrew Drennan, who recorded one save on the night, notched the win in goal for Wofford. Lissek made two saves while absorbing the loss for Furman. The Paladins managed a 13-7 edge in shot attempts and 4-3 advantage in shots on goal.
The Paladins grabbed an early 1-0 lead in the 15th minute on Coleton Henning’s eighth goal of the campaign. Danny Hojaij played a corner kick to the back post where Henning drove a header into the net at 14:10 after losing his defender.
Wofford tied the match in the 22nd minute when Billy Padula floated a long throw in into the box and Connor Davis headed a shot across the face of goal to beat Lissek at the 21:32 mark for his third goal of 2012.
Furman had a chance to take the lead midway through the second half when Michael Gandier redirected a cross into the box but Wofford defender Forrest Lasso made the first of the Terriers’ two team saves on the night to keep the Paladins from netting a second goal.
#6 Seed Appalachian State stuns Charleston with late comeback
MT. PLEASANT, S.C. – The College of Charleston men’s soccer team fell, 2-1, to Appalachian State and was eliminated from the Southern Conference Tournament on Saturday afternoon at Patriots Point. The Cougars led for the majority of the match but the Mountaineers scored two late goals separated by 1:16 of game clock to escape with the victory.
“We controlled a lot of the play today but we needed another goal,” said head coach Ralph Lundy. “In the second half we needed another goal and their keeper made an great save on a shot by Ralphie [Lundy] which gave them some momentum and got them back in the game. What they were doing wasn’t exactly pretty, but they got corners; they got throw-ins; they gained momentum; they gained territory and they got the goals. Out effort was great, it wasn’t as if we didn’t have the effort. It’s just a cruel game sometimes.”
The third-seeded Cougars (8-10-1) produced a 15-11 shot advantage and 10-6 corner-kick edge while putting eight shots on goal.
Appalachian State (8-7-3), the tournament’s six seed, advances to the semifinals to be played in Cary, N.C., at the WakeMed Soccer Complex on Thursday, Nov. 8.
The Cougars got on the board in the 15th minute when Robbie Benson (Rock Hill, S.C.) sent a long throw-in into the box where a Mountaineer got his head to it but caught the ball on the wrong spot and it redirected into his own net.
The Cougars stayed aggressive and on the attack while seeking an insurance marker for the rest of the first half but would settle for the 1-0 lead at the intermission after outshooting the Apps 9-4 in the opening period.
CofC continued to apply pressure in the second half, but the tide of the match turned quickly when CofC allowed the Mountaineers to counter attack in the 76th minute. Matthew Melton took the ball down the right side of the field in transition and sent a long cross into the box where Josiah Trower redirected it into the net on a header.
Just after the ensuing kickoff, ASU recollected the ball around the top of the penalty area and Stanley Broaden found Boubacar Toure slashing through the left side of the box and Toure scored to the lower right corner to suddenly put the Apps up 2-1.
The Cougars repeatedly threatened for the equalizer down the stretch but it ultimately evaded them as time inevitable expired on the match.
CofC was led in shots by senior captain Shawn Ferguson (Rock Hill, S.C.) who took four attempts. Kees Heemskerk (Zaandam, Netherlands) made four saves.
