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Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 6,700 Likes: 5
World Cup
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OP
World Cup
Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 6,700 Likes: 5 |
Former Brookland-Cayce High School standout Troy Lesesne scored the game-winning goal in the Cougars' upset of South Carolina 1-0 at Patriots Point.
The Cougars are now 7-5-1 and the Gamecocks are 9-4-1. The goal was Troy's first of his career with Charleston and he megged USC goalkeeper Michael Bachmeyer for the score.
GREAT JOB TROY!!! WAY TO REPRESENT COLA TOWN AND S.C.!!!
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Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 547
Goal
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Goal
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 547 |
From the Charleston newspaper: quote:
Cougars, Lesesne jolt Gamecocks in soccer
CHARLESTON 1, SOUTH CAROLINA 0
Thursday, October 24, 2002
BY RICK NELSON
Of The Post and Courier Staff
MOUNT PLEASANT-With key players sidelined and national power South Carolina throwing its muscle around, the College of Charleston was desperate for a big play.
The Cougars eventually got it, and it came from an unlikely source.
Troy Lesesne, a sophomore who had not scored a goal in his career, put one away at the 31:31 mark Wednesday as the Cougars upset the No. 9 Gamecocks, 1-0, before 1,071 at Patriots Point Field.
"It was all about respect," Lesesne said. "That's what coach (Ralph) Lundy has been talking about. We've had some close ones against some good teams, and we finally got one tonight."
The Columbia native couldn't have picked a better time for his coming out party.
The Cougars already had lost a pair of 2-0 decisions to top-10 teams Southern Methodist and Washington. After losing 1-0 in the final five minutes Saturday at 14th-ranked Furman, Charleston (7-5-1) seemed on the verge of breaking through against top-flight competition.
That's what they did against USC, a team they had beaten just once in 18 previous meetings.
"It's a great win for our program," Lundy said. "We've had some tough losses, and this is a good reward for these boys. The Cougars can play with anyone."
USC, which is ranked ninth in one poll and 10th in another, fell to 9-4-1. The Gamecocks began attacking furiously after Lesesne's goal, but they just couldn't crack the Cougars' defense or goalkeeper Keith Wiggins.
"You have to give Charleston a lot of credit because they won the game without two of their best players," USC head coach Mark Berson said. "We're not a good enough team to spot someone 45 minutes of a game and come back and win. "We're still young, and they don't understand their responsibility every time they step on the field to push it for 90 minutes. It's a process, and it cost us a little tonight."
With leading scorer Tony Myers out with an injury and No. 3 scorer Jeff Files sitting because of yellow cards, it was Lesesne who stepped up to fill the scoring void.
He scored on an assist from junior Ricardo Diaz Granados, who split the USC defense with a crisp crossing pass. Lesesne took the ball in stride on the left side, and as Gamecocks goalkeeper Michael Bachmeyer came out to challenge him, Lesesne fired a shot past him from about 8 yards out.
"It was a great pass," Lesesne said. "All I had to do was touch the ball and put it in the goal. I saw him (Bachmeyer) start to cut down my angle, and I thought, 'This is my chance.' "
After the goal, USC increased its pressure, keeping the ball on Charleston's side of the field nearly the entire time.
"At halftime I felt great," Lundy said. "Twelve minutes into the second half I didn't feel so great because they were attacking.
"Then we got that beautiful goal."
The Gamecocks' best chance to score came with about 8 minutes left on a shot by Josh Alcala, but Wiggins made a diving save to preserve the shutout. The Cougars dodged another bullet with about five minutes left when Jack Cummings' open shot went wide left.
"The defense held up great," Wiggins said. "We panicked a little bit at the end, not really pushing the ball out of there enough, but they did well. South Carolina is one of the best teams in the country, and to shut them out is big time."
Neither team was able to score over the first 58 minutes in a match marked by plenty of collisions and more than a few dives. Two Gamecocks, defender Tim Glowienka and forward Jordan Quinn, were hit with yellow cards after running into Cougar players.
Bachmeyer is 6-6, and he needed every inch of it in the first half as the Cougars forced the action. The senior, who is eighth in the nation in goals-against average, stopped a shot inside the box by Ben Hollingsworth, and made a diving save on a free kick by Turner Walters.
INJURY UPDATE
The Cougars learned Wednesday that Myers could miss up to five weeks after having his broken jaw wired. The McClellanville native was injured in practice last week.
COMING UP
The Cougars are at VMI (2-6-4, 2-4) at 11 a.m. Saturday. South Carolina is home against Furman (10-2-1, 5-0) at 2 p.m. Sunday.
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