BOX SCORE (PDF)
WILMINGTON, N.C. – The UNCG men's soccer team opened the 2012 regular season Friday evening with a 2-2 tie against UNCW in double overtime at the UNCW Soccer Stadium. The Spartans out-shot the Seahawks 20-16 in the game and played with a man advantage for the final 42:50 of the game but could not find the elusive game-winner.
UNCG went on the attack early in the 17
th minute as the Spartans make a break down the left-hand side. Senior
Hakan Ilhan (Stuttgart, Germany/Univ. of Stuttgart) found
Maximilian Schulz (Northeim, Germany/Gymnasium Corvinianum) down the flank. Schulz drilled a cross into the box where redshirt freshman
Dustin Gamradt (Kiel, Germany/Hebbelschule) one-time a shot just wide of the post to keep the game scoreless.
The Spartans kept the pressure in the 23
rd minute and forced a corner kick. After the initial kick, Schulz passed it back to
Michael Holzer (Tettnang, Germany/Merz-Schule) who drove a cross into the six-yard box. Junior
Oddur Gudmundsson (Reykjavik, Iceland/Breidholti) ran onto the cross and drilled a header past UNCW goalkeeper Brandon Bolen for the 1-0 lead and the first goal of the 2012 season.
UNCW tied the game in the 35
th minute of action off a corner kick of its own. The Seahawks sent the kick to the backside of the box and it was headed back across the grain to Jacob VanCompernolle, who headed it into the side netting past
Peyton Ford (Jamestown, N.C./Southwest Guilford) to tie the game at 1-1.
The Seahawks took their only lead of the night early in the second half. UNCW forward Jamie Dell got in behind the Spartans' defense and poked the ball past a diving Ford for the 2-1 lead in the 49th minute of play.
The Spartans came right back in the 53rd minute of play tying the game at 2-2. Off a throw-in, Gamradt flicked the ball to the backside of the six-yard box where Schulz ran onto the ball and deposited into the back of the net for his first career goal at UNCG.
The hotly contested game reached a crescendo in the 67th minute as UNCW midfielder Jose Garcia was booked for his second yellow of the game, resulting in a red card allowing the Spartans to play 11-on-10 the rest of the campaign. Ilhan almost gave the Spartans the lead on the ensuing free kick from the top of the 18-yard box as he shot was punched away by Bolen to keep the game tied at 2-2.
UNCG came within inches of go ahead in the final minute of regulation. The Seahawks were trying to run out the clock in the second half but their goal kick was intercepted by freshman
Lukas Zarges (Friedrichsdorf, Germany/Philipp Reis Schule) who made a run down the middle of the field before firing a shot just inches wide of the post sending the game into overtime.
Both teams went back-and-forth in the two overtime periods with similar chances but none producing the game-winner. The Spartans posted the only two shots in the extra time finishing with a 20-16 advantage, including a game-high seven shots by Gudmundsson. Ford finished the night with three saves while Bolden posted six saves for UNCW.
UNCG continues its season-opening four-game road swing Tuesday night as it travels to Johnson City, Tenn., to face off against East Tennessee State. Game time is set for 7 p.m.
- UNCG -
