GREENSBORO, N.C. - UNCG men's soccer got its home schedule started with a win on Wednesday night, defeating visiting Belmont Abbey in a dominant 4-1 win. Newcomers to the Spartan roster made their presence felt, with
Fernando Garcia scoring his first brace in a Spartan uniform, and freshman
Theo Collomb grabbing an assist and his first collegiate goal on a penalty in the 89th.
While the Spartans carried the bulk of the chances and opportunities in the first half, it was the home team that was dealt the disadvantage in the opening 15 minutes. Lining up for a free kick from 30 yards out, the Crusaders' attempt at net was deflected to an unmarked man on the back post, giving the visitors an easy put away, and a 1-0 lead.
"I thought we were creating a lot of chances in the first half, but we were also allowing transitions for the opponent," said UNCG head coach
Chris Rich in postmatch interviews. "Belmont Abbey was competing, they were intense, and they were up for this game. I thought the biggest challenge was that every time we lost the ball it ended up being a transition the other way. They were creating chances and obviously got a set piece goal, which was disappointing."
The Spartans did respond before the end of the half however, with their increased pressure paying off on a Belmont Abbey own goal in the 41st. Coach Rich's side carried that momentum over to the latter 45 minutes, where the Spartans dominated possession and hardly let their opponents see the ball in the second half.
"At halftime we kind of readjusted some things," said Rich. "We did a better job with our 'rest' defense to avoid some of those transitions they were getting, and control the game better. Once we did that we started getting more chances and started giving them less transitions and less chances to go the other way."
Holding a 13-4 shooting margin at the halftime break, UNCG went on to outshoot the Crusaders 21-1 in the final 45, to finish with a total of 34, the most the team has registered since pulling the trigger 37 times against VMI back in October of 2016. Junior
Fernando Garcia took a team-high eight attempts on the night, converting his first of the season in the 58th minute.
After a cross from wing back
Matthew Cutler,
Mani Austmann mis-hit a shot that hung in the air for a potential air dual. As the BAC keeper made an attempt to punch the ball away from the 18, Garcia climbed the ladder to get a head to it first, slotting in the game-winner in the vacated net.
The former Northeast Texas CC forward doubled his team's advantage 10 minutes later on a counter attack in the 68th. After a turnover by the Crusader defense,
Theo Collomb and Garcia found themselves in a two-on-none situation against the Belmont Abbey keeper. Despite being dealt the opportunity to score his first in a Spartan uniform, Collomb made the unselfish play with a ball back to Garcia, who sent home his second of the night in a wide open net.
"Garcia brought a lot of energy, and was a big lift to the team tonight," said Rich. "...That first goal came from him challenging the goalkeeper and credit to him, because a lot of guys won't go up for a ball like that. And the second was a great and unselfish play from Theo, and Fernando was able to cover the ground necessary to get the finish. I'm really happy for him to get two goals tonight."
Collomb would get rewarded for his assist later in the match, as a Crusader foul in the 18 gave the Spartans a penalty opportunity. The first-year Spartan showed poise in the moment, burying his attempt into the bottom left corner and giving his team the final 4-1 edge.
"We have three or four guys that work on penalties in training, and they always fight over the ball every single time," said Rich. "We don't have a clear guy picked for those opportunities, and I think that's a good thing, because you always want multiple guys who can take the PK. Theo is a 'number 9', and he wanted to open his scoring account as well. He wanted the ball, he wanted the moment, and he did a good job with the finish."
>> Four Spartans grabbed their first points of the season on the night, with Austmann and Cutler each receiving assists on Garcia's first goal
>> Of UNCG's 34 attempts at net, 14 were on target, with Collomb steering on frame a game-high four times
>> Brothers Chase and
Logan Gilley made their Spartan debuts late in the match, playing five and four minutes respectively
#letsgoG
