UNC Greensboro Defeats Davidson Men's Soccer

Saturday, October 31

Greensboro, N.C.

7:00 p.m.

Davidson College Athletics

10-7-0, 3-4-0

UNC Greensboro

6-8-3, 3-2-1

Team	1	2	Final F
Davidson	0	1	1
UNCG	0	3	3

Junior MF Josh Zipin

UNC Greensboro Defeats Davidson Men's Soccer

10/31/2009 9:42:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Box Score

By: Mark Brumbaugh

GREENSBORO, N.C. – The Davidson men's soccer team generated the most offensive pressure, but a pair of goals by A.J. Nelson led UNC Greensboro to a 3-1 victory over the Wildcats in a Southern Conference match on Saturday night at UNCG Soccer Stadium. Junior Josh Zipin scored the Wildcats' lone goal in the 59th minute.

The 'Cats pressured UNCG throughout the match, holding a 25-10 advantage in shots. Greensboro's Chad Janda just managed to punch a shot from senior Charlie Reiter (Westport, Conn.) over the goal in the 13th minute. Janda did the same in the 52nd minute on a shot from Zipin (Silver Springs, Md.), and finished with six saves. Reiter and junior Alex Caskey (Dunwoody, Ga.) both had free kick attempts glance off the crossbar in the second half.

The game was scoreless until Nelson flicked a long ball from Matt Strine off his heel, into the goal 13:59 into the second half. Greensboro's lead was short-lived though as the 'Cats evened the match at one less than a minute later when Zipin chipped in a cross from sophomore Mark Millard at 59:51.

However, Greensboro (6-8-3, 3-2-1 SoCon) was able to convert on a corner kick attempt at 62:34, as Nelson headed in Mike Magnotic's kick for the game-winner.

Senior Machel Turner (Kingston, Jamaica) nearly equalized the match at two in the 76th minute, but Janda made the save. Cruz Oronos then added an insurance goal, assisted by E.J. O'Keeffe, with less than four minutes remaining in the match to secure the 3-1 win.

Freshman Allen Page (Columbus, Ga.) nearly headed in a goal in the final minutes, but Janda made the point-blank save.

“It's a hard loss to take, especially for the seniors, because it was a must-win game and we were dominant for long periods of time, but the goals just didn't happen,” said Davidson head coach Matt Spear. “Unfortunately we weren't able to make all of the plays we needed at the critical times on both ends of the field.”

The loss eliminates Davidson (10-7-0, 3-4-0 SoCon) from contention for the Southern Conference tournament, as this year only the top-four teams in the conference qualify. With nine points and no conference matches remaining, the 'Cats are presently in a tie for fourth place with Elon, but Davidson's loss to Elon gives Elon the edge on the first tiebreaker of head-to-head matchups.

The Wildcats will conclude the 2009 season at Campbell on Tuesday night.

“We're looking forward to the match against Campbell and celebrating our season,” said Spear. “Unfortunately in the second half we were unable to convert in some matches despite playing very well, but there are plenty of positives to take away from the year.”