GREENVILLE, S.C. – The College of Charleston men’s soccer team fell, 1-0, in overtime at Stone Stadium on Saturday evening.
The Cougars (1-2) were outshot, 16-17, but defended well to force the game into overtime. Freshman forward Xavier Rajpaul (Port of Spain, Trinidad) led the Cougars with four shot attempts.
Sophomore goalkeeper Alex Young (Greenville, S.C.) made his first career start and made three saves to keep a shutout through regulation, but Eli Pinner scored on the first – and only – shot of the overtime period in the 94th minute. Pinner’s decisive strike was a long-range drive which found its way into the left side of the net.
Young made his debut when he started the second half of CofC’s 1-0 win over Xavier on Sunday, Sept. 1 to replace veteran keeper Kees Heemskerk (Zaandam, Netherlands) who suffered a back injury in a collision late in the first half. Heemskerk is listed as day-to-day.
Other nagging injuries forced CofC to play with limited substitutions and nine different players offered a full 94 minutes.
“I really am disappointed for the players,” said head coach Ralph Lundy. “They played great, they played hard. It’s a tough way to lose a great match.”
The Cougars will look to bounce back when they return home to host Vermont on Friday, Sept. 13. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m. from Patriots Point.
