SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The No. 11 UNC Greensboro (UNCG) men's soccer team defeated Wofford 2-1 in its regular season finale to take home its ninth Regular Season Title on Saturday night at Snyder Field.
With the win, the Spartans earn the Southern Conference (SoCon) regular season title, outright, after Mercer defeated ETSU, 3-2. UNCG receives the top seed and a bye heading into the 2022 SoCon Men's Soccer Tournament.
The Spartans finished the SoCon regular season undefeated with a 4-0-1 record. This was the first time since 2004 when UNCG went 6-0-1 that the Spartans went undefeated.
UNCG entered the match ranked No. 11 in the United Soccer Coaches poll and No. 15 in NCAA RPI rankings. The Spartans are also No. 4 in the United Soccer Coaches South region, No. 12 in the TopDrawerSoccer national poll, and No. 13 in the College Soccer News rankings.
From Head Coach Chris Rich
"Tonight was a challenging game. Wofford is a good team, and do a very good job in possession which caused us issues at times."
"We scored two great goals. The second goal was incredible, great pass by Basile and a great finish by Maycol."
"After Wofford scored, we needed a gritty defensive performance to get the win and we did just that. I am so proud of the guys for doing what it took to get three points."
How it Happened:
In the 25
th minute of play, Marco Afonso brought the ball into the 18-yard box and dribbled past a defender, sending it across his body with his left foot. Afonso found Ismail El Harchi who was on the run near the far post unmarked, striking the ball to the back of the net for an 1-0 advantage.
With the Spartans leading by one as the second half started, UNCG continued to press the Terriers. In the 57
th minute, the Spartan defense worked the ball over to
Basile Marc, who turned and lofted the ball across the line of the 18-yard box. The ball fell perfectly for
Maycol Reyes, who connected with the volley finding the back of the net to extend UNCG's lead to 2-0.
Though the Spartan defense had held their ground for the majority of the match and UNCG kept the ball in their control, Wofford was not going down without a fight. A quick counter-attack from Jackson Wrobel down the right flank led to a cross from the Terriers' Nikolai Rojel. The ball made its way across the goal to Jakob Anderson who managed to find the back of the net, to cut the deficit to 2-1. UNCG was able to get off two shots on goal in the remaining 25 minutes, while Wofford tallied one shot, as the Spartans held on for the win.
By the Numbers:
- El Harchi scored his eighth goal of the season.
- Reyes tallied his fourth goal of the season and second game winner.
- Afonso got his sixth assist of the season.
- Marc recorded his third assist of the season, the fifth of his career.
- The Spartans outshot the Terriers 8-3 and 5-1 with shots on goal.
- Jakob Anderson from Wofford scored its lone goal.
Records:
UNCG: 11-1-4, 4-0-1 SoCon
Wofford: 6-8-2, 2-2-1 SoCon
From Rich
"We are so proud to win the regular season championship. This was one of our goals, so I am very happy to bring another trophy to Greensboro. We'll enjoy this moment for sure, but we'll soon need to focus on our recovery and start preparing for the conference tournament."
Up Next:
The Spartans will head into postseason play as the No. 1 seed and will play the winner of the No. 5 Furman versus No. 4 Wofford game on Friday, November 4. The quarterfinal and semifinal round will be hosted by the Spartans at UNCG Soccer Stadium.
