STATESBORO, Ga. - It may have taken two days, but Georgia Southern
Men's Soccer improved to 1-0 in Southern Conference play with a 3-2 victory
over Davidson on Monday (Sept. 26th) afternoon. The first attempt at the match
from Sunday afternoon was abandoned after 67 minutes due to lightning, forcing
Monday's replay. The Eagles (5-2-1, 1-0-0 SoCon) trailed 1-0 in the abandoned
match to Davidson (4-3-1, 0-1-0 SoCon), but scored three first half goals in
the victory.
"Our focus today was the 90
minutes in front of us, not yesterday's match or this morning," Head Coach
Kevin Kennedy told Eagle Vision. "Then when we got a weather delay late in the match,
our focus was that final 4:51. Yesterday, the only thing missing was our final
pass in the attacking third. Today, we were outstanding in attack and it showed
with three goals on the scoreboard."
Sophomore midfielder Hunter Norton (Evans, Ga.) scored the
breakthrough just 1:08 into the match. The Eagle captain marched the ball up
the middle of the pitch and dished to Luigi
Clendening (Augusta, Ga.) on the combination play. The ball came back to
Norton who controlled the ball past four Davidson defenders in the penalty
area. He won space behind the defenders and scored the goal with a hard shot past
the Davidson goalkeeper.
Clendening doubled the
Georgia Southern advantage in the 15th minute with a penalty kick. The forward
earned the spot kick when the Davidson goalkeeper hauled down Clendening on a
breakaway inside the penalty area. Clendening coolly scored the penalty for his
seventh goal of the season and a 2-0 Georgia Southern advantage.
Davidson cut the Georgia
Southern lead to 2-1 in the 31st minute on Greg Macnamara's long-range goal.
The Wildcat attacker dribbled the ball in the midfield and ripped a low,
driving shot from 35 yards which found the goal.
Witt Carlisle
(Alpharetta, Ga.) responded five minutes later by scoring the Eagles' third goal
of the afternoon off an assist by Joe
Hughes (Mooresville, N.C.). The ball was slotted to Carlisle at the top of
the 18-yard box and the junior took the shot first touch from the penalty spot
to score his fourth goal of the year.
The Wildcats drew another
goal back in the 75th minute when Chris Pettiglio scored a goal to put pressure
on the Eagles. The tally cut the GSU advantage to 3-2 with just 15 minutes to
play.
In the 85th minute, lightning
again halted the proceedings for the fourth time since the match began on
Sunday afternoon with just 4:51 remaining in regulation.
The teams returned to the
field after a delay of over an hour and 45 minutes. Davidson threw attached at
a fever pitch over the final moments of the match. The Eagle defense repeatedly
turned back the Wildcat offense which was able to record just one shot in the
waning moments.
Goalkeeper Ryan Platt (Preston, England) recorded
six saves in the replay after allowing the abandoned match's only goal just a
day earlier. He also picked up his fifth win between the pipes.
Georgia Southern returns to
action against Jacksonville on Wednesday, September 28th. The non-conference
match against the Dolphins begins at 4 p.m. from Eagle Field.
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