Davidson Drops 2-1 SoCon Match To Appalachian State

Sunday, October 26

Boone, N.C.

3:30 p.m.

Davidson College Athletics

3-12-1

Appalachian State

9-7-0

Team	1	2	Final F
Davidson	0	1	1
Appalachian State	0	2	2

Davidson Drops 2-1 SoCon Match To Appalachian State

10/26/2008 6:25:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Box Score

By: Matt Harris - Assistant SID

BOONE, N.C. - Two second-half goals were to much for the Davidson men's team to overcome in their 2-1 loss to Appalachian State Sunday afternoon at the ASU?Soccer Stadium in Boone, N.C.

Davidson came out strong to start the match, accumulating an 8-3 advantage in shots taken as a team, including a pair of close calls that almost put the 'Cats on the board. At the 27:28 mark, freshman Greg Macnamara fired a shot from 15 yards out that arched over the ASU defense and was on its way to the back of the net until it was knocked over the crossbar by goalkeeper Collin Taylor. Then with 17 minutes remaining in the half, junior Charlie Reiter had an attempt from just inside the penalty box that crossed the goal mouth and would have gone in if not for Taylor's diving stop.

After a scoreless first 45 minutes of action, the two teams continued to battle back and forth until the 51st minute, when Appalachian put in the first goal of the game, courtesy of a header by Juan Obregon, which came from a corner kick that was passed into the middle where Obregon got a head on it and put it in the back of the net to give the Mountaineers a 1-0 lead.

Appalachian then went up by a pair of goals when Arie Muniz took a long drive deep into the Davidson zone before sending a cross into the middle of the box where it was collected by teammate Antonio Harley and knocked into the bottom right corner of the goal.

Finding themselves down by a 2-0 count, Davidson kept the attack on, recording a number of quality opportunities, including at the 31:17 mark when Reiter had a free kick from just outside the penalty box in which he fired a shot on goal that was tapped over the net.

After being close on three of his attempts, Reiter made the most of his fourth scoring chance, which came in the 70th minute. After Davidson won a corner kick, sophomore Alex Caskey drove a low crossing pass into the box, which was deflected onto the feet of Davidson's Clinton Smith. Smith settled the ball, then played it on to Reiter, whose shot from 15 yards out traveled along the ground an into the net to bring the 'Cats within one, 2-1. It was Reiter's second goal of the season, and gave him a game-high four shots, three of which were on goal. For Smith, it was his second assist on the year, moving him into second place on the team leaderboard.

The last 20 minutes of play were a flurry of shots by both squads, each trying to find paydirt in the waning minutes of the match. Appalachian almost tacked on an insurance goal with 11 minutes to go, but junior Robby Goldsberry made a spectacular save where he came off of his line and dove at the feet of the Mountaineer attack Goldsberry recorded a game-high seven saves on the night, improving on his season total which currently stands as second-highest on the Southern Conference.

Despite their valiant efforts, time eventually ran out on the Wildcat comeback attempt, and Davidson was relegated to a 3-12-1 season record, and 1-4-0 in the SoCon. ASU moved to 9-7-0 overall, and now have a 3-3-0 SoCon mark.

Davidson held the team shot lead in the match by a 14-13 count, with Appalachian taking nine corner kicks to the Wildcats' five. ASU also had a pair of offside infractions, to none for Davidson.

The 'Cats will now turn their focus to their last SoCon road game of the regular season when they travel down to Spartanburg, S.C. to take on the Wofford Terriers on Oct. 29. The match, which will play a crucial role in deciding final seeding for the conference tournament, is scheduled to kick off at 6 p.m.