Soccer - Men

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Saturday September 5th

Cleveland, TN

 

The Southern Poly Men's Soccer team played it's second game of the Lee University Classic against William Carey University.  A penalty kick in the first overtime decided the match in the Hornet's favor 3-2.

The first goal of the match came in the 3rd minute of the game.  Hornet's Forward, Kouami d'Almeida, received a pass from Felipe Lopez and dribbled two William Carey defenders and slotted the ball in the far right side of the goal.  It was the fourth assist for Lopez and the second goal for d'Almeida on the season.  "It was a great individual effort by Kouami.  He showed how strong and technical he is," said Head Coach Kom Momeni.

The second goal of the match came from a scramble inside the William Carey 12 yard box.  Sophomore, Midfielder, Rani Alkoptan blasted a shot by three William Carey players as the ball was bouncing around the box.  The goal started as a corner kick, which came off of the head of SPSU Midfielder, Henning Blenkle, and then hit the cross bar.  Another Hornet shot it, but it was cleared off of the line and went to Alkoptan who gave the Hornets a 2-0 lead with about 19 minutes left in regulation.

Then, it got a bit scary for the Hornets.  In a matter of 53 seconds, the score became 2-2.  The first William Carey goal came at the 80:37 mark, while the second Crusader goal came at the 81:30 mark.  The first was scored by Reece Wilson and the second, a 45 yard blast that hit the cross bar and bounced inside the goal, was struck by Joseph McNeil.

"We were a bit shocked to say the least.  We thought that we had a good handle on the game and were going to finish out the match 2-0.  Give tons of credit to William Carey, they never quit," said Momeni.

In overtime, the Hornets had the majority of play.  In only the fourth minute of OT, Senior, Midfielder, Scott Anderson was taken down in the box.  What should have been a routine PK was anything but...

"That was the strangest way to finish a match that I have ever seen," said Momeni.  "It was a bit sloppy on both players part, but fortunately for us, we prevailed."

Anderson's first shot was saved by William Carey, GK, Sean Mapson.  However, the rebound went right back to Anderson who shot it, once again at Mapson.  Mapson's second save, once again, went right back to Anderson.  This time, however, the save was so hard that it bounced right into Anderson and found it's way into the back of the net.  The Hornet's bench rushed the field and celebration ensued as the Hornets knew that they were the only team in the 2009 Lee University Men's Soccer Classic to win both their matches.

After 94 minutes, SPSU had 12 shots, five on goal, and William Carey had 13 shots, eight on goal.  Hornet GK, Eric Ati was credited with six saves. 

The Hornets play Lincoln Memorial on Saturday September 12th at 4pm.  This will be their home opener for the 2009 season.

After scoring the game winner, Scott Anderson runs away from his teammates who rushed the field in overtime

photos available at www.reactionimages.com

 

 

 

SPSU Athletics
1100 S. Marietta Pkwy
Marietta, GA 30060
Men's Soccer
Ph: 678.915.3644
Fax: 678.915.5515

 

 

1100 South Marietta Parkway
Marietta, GA 30060-2896
678-915-SPSU (7778)
1-800-635-3204