Men’s Soccer Picks Up 3-2 Double-Overtime Victory in Season Opener

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DAVIDSON, N.C. - Senior Charlie Reiter's goal with 5:29 remaining in the second overtime gave the Davidson men's soccer team a thrilling 3-2 victory over USC Upstate Saturday night in the season-opener at Alumni Stadium.

In the 105th minute of play, sophomore Mark Millard fired a shot on goal that was blocked to teammate Clinton Smith, who calmly collected the rebound and slid a pass across the box to an open Reiter, who finished the play with a shot from just outside the six-yard box and into the back of the net for the golden goal game-winner.

“It feels great to win the first match of the year, albeit in dramatic fashion,” said Davidson head coach Matt Spear. “We created so many chances throughout the game, and even though it would have been nice to end it a little earlier, a win is a win, especially at home.”

USC Upstate (0-2) wasted no time getting on the scoreboard to start the match, opening up a 1-0 lead at the 1:02 mark of the first half on a free kick that found the head of Nick Buxton, who put it in the top-left corner of the net for the first of his two goals on the night.

Despite finding themselves in an early hole, the Wildcats continued to put pressure on the Spartan defense, controlling the time of possession and out-shooting USC Upstate 12-6 in the rest of the half. Junior Alex Caskey almost tied the game at the 27:11 mark when his free kick attempt sailed just above the goal.

Caskey would find the mark nine minutes later, notching the equalizer when Reiter sent a free kick into the box where Caskey had his header saved, then collected his own rebound for the tap-in goal from two yards out to bring the Wildcats even at 1-1.

Just before halftime, Reiter fired off a shot from outside the penalty box that looked as if it would find the back of the goal, but curled just enough to bounce off the left post and out of play. Neither team took a shot attempt the remainder of the half, and went into the break tied at one.

At the 43:06 minute mark of the second half, a USC Upstate player was sent off following his second yellow card of the match, giving Davidson (1-0) an 11-on-10 man advantage. With one more player on the field, the Wildcats were able to use the open spacing to bolster their offensive attack, including a pair of just-misses by Caskey, both coming on long shots that were tipped over the goal by a diving Upstate goalkeeper.

The 'Cats took a 2-1 lead with just under 20 minutes remaining in regulation on freshman Peter Paras' first career goal, a sweeping shot into the top left corner of the net. Junior Yannick Pilgrim, who set up the play with a drop pass to Paras, picked up the assist, his first of the year.

Davidson's man advantage increased to nine-on-11 in the 79th minute when a Spartan player was given a red card for bringing down Pilgrim inside the penalty box as he was breaking away for an open shot.

Down 2-1 with 50 seconds remaining in regulation, Upstate mounted one last comeback effort with Buxton scoring the tying goal on a free kick, heading the ball into the net on almost an identical play as his first score. Even after the goal, Spear had confidence in the team's ability to pick up a win.

“My first instinct when they scored was that we're going to beat them in overtime,” he said after the match. “I even said that to the guys, and I felt that the game had to go our way. We created so many chances, and with the two-man advantage, we felt that it would go our way.”

The Wildcats controlled the action in both of the overtime periods, taking seven shots while holding USC Upstate without an attempt for the remainder of the match, before Reiter's game-winner sealed the Davidson victory.

Davidson dominated the stat sheet for the contest, out-shooting USC Upstate by a 33-10 margin, including a 12-3 advantage in shots-on-goal. The 33 shots by the Wildcats are the most in a single match since they became an official statistic in 1997. Reiter led all players with a career-high eight shots, followed by Caskey's seven. Nine different Wildcats recorded a scoring attempt on the night, with seven taking multiple shots.

The Wildcats will look to continue their winning ways next weekend when they host the Davidson adidias Classic Sept. 11 and 13 at Alumni Stadium. Davidson will play UNC Asheville on Friday, Sept. 11 in their first game of the weekend, with kick off scheduled for 7:15 p.m. Then on Sunday, Sept. 13, the 'Cats will take on Coastal Carolina in the tournament finale at 3:15 p.m.

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