UNCG-CofC Box Score
MT. PLEASANT, SC No. 1 UNC Greensboro captured its first Southern Conference men's soccer championship since 1998 with a 3-1 league victory over No. 26 College of Charleston tonight at Patriot's Point in Mt. Pleasant, SC. With the win, the Spartans (16-0-1, 6-0-1 SoCon) clinch the top seed in the upcoming conference tournament and remain the lone unbeaten team in Division I.
“It feels great,” said Spartan head coach Michael Parker, who picked up his 432nd career victory spanning 29 seasons. “It was our top objective at the beginning of the season. Now it's time to move on to our next goal, the Southern Conference tournament title.”
Scott Jones scored his fourth game-winning goal of the season off a feed from Randi Patterson at 69:20 to snap a 1-1 tie. Matt Smith added his sixth goal of the season just over five minutes later to extend the nation's longest unbeaten streak to 17 games and in the process, extend the clubs best start to a season at 16-0-1.
The Cougars (11-5-1, 5-1-1 SoCon) got on the board just nine seconds into the match when Jeremy Gold buried a shot into the upper left corner from 30-yards out for his first goal of the season. UNCG was able to get the equalizer at 11:53 as Patterson, the SoCon's leading scorer, found the back of the net for his 16th tally of the year. The sophomore from
Hackensack, NJ has scored a point in all but three games this season for the Spartans. He entered the week seventh in the nation in points and goals and leads the SoCon in six different offensive categories.
The game remained 1-1 heading to halftime, but 14 minutes into the second stanza, CofC had a golden opportunity to take the lead on a penalty kick by Troy Lesesne, the Cougars' leading scorer, but Spartan keeper Jay Benfield was up to the task, stopping the shot to preserve the tie, which set the scene for Jones' tally in the 70th minute.
“It was d?j? vu in reverse tonight,” said Parker, in reference to last years SoCon tournament game when Cougar keeper Keith Wiggans came up with a penalty kick save against the Spartans. “It was very similar to last season's tournament game. It was a very pivotal point of the match. Jay's save definitely changed the game.”
This is the seventh regular season conference title as a Division I institution for UNCG and the third as a member of the SoCon. The club won back-to-back titles in 1997 and 1998, which capped off six consecutive conference titles dating back to 1993. The Spartans won four straight in the Big South, before joining the SoCon in 1997. The squad shared the crown with Furman in 1998.
Next up is a non-conference game with state rival UNC Wilmington on Wednesday at 7 pm in Wilmington.
The Spartans will play Wofford in the quarterfinals of the SoCon Tournament on Tuesday, November 9 at 7 pm at the UNCG Soccer Stadium. The Spartans beat the Terriers 5-0 at home earlier this year. The semifinals and finals will be held at Blackbaud Stadium in Charleston, SC November 12 and 14.
AGATE
SCORE BY PERIODS
UNCG...................................1..2..- 3
COLL. OF CHARLESTON.........1..0..- 1
SCORING: COFC - Gold (Lesesne) 00:09; UNCG - Patterson (unassisted) 11:53; UNCG - Jones (Patterson, Smith) 69:20; UNCG - Smith (Richardson) 74:44. SHOTS: UNCG 9, COFC 17. SAVES: UNCG 5 (Benfield 5), COFC 3 (Wiggans 3). CORNER KICKS: UNCG 5, COFC 10. FOULS: UNCG 15, COFC 9. OFFSIDES: UNCG 0, COFC 3.
- UNCG -
