#1 v. #26 Here what I could find for the pre-game hype Top-Ranked Men's Soccer Battles at No. 26 College of Charleston for the SoCon Regular Season Crown on Saturday UNC-G gamenotes are also available at the link above as well as a live Gametracker I'll be watching so I'll add my two cents worth after the match as well mikey
Good match. The score line doesn't do the match justice as Charleston dominated a large portion of the match. Turning point was the blocked PK. Beofre that UNCG looked beat, a little bickering amongst themselves, seemed to be giving up on runs, etc. Charleston was really presurring and looked to score again. After they blocked the Pk, it revived UNCG and took a lot of wind out of CofC sails. When the second UNCG goal went in. CofC didn't let off the attack, they just keep going. Here is the loacl papers write up on the match. Spartans vs. Cougars ID: bigsoccer Password: bigsoccer when propted for a login. some good quotes by both coaches and a few of the players as well. Mikey
I went to CofC last night and enjoyed this great game. UNC-G is a very good team. To have to recover from that body blow in the first ten seconds shows great Character. Great goal by Jeremy Gold, by the way. No spin on the ball whatsoever, straight as an arrow. UNC-G deserved to equalise, but then CofC took over. Not sure why #23 Tony Myers didn't play more as one weakness at the back for UNC-G is their size against a big forward. He had them in all sorts of trouble during his 10 minutes at the end of the first half. Anyway, the big change was the PK being well saved and the wicked deflection which looped over the Cof C keeper to make it 2-1. Charleston then had to push forward and a third was on the cards right away. For UNC-G #10 was fast and lively he scored the equaliser in the first half. I felt the CofC #12 held his shirt for 44 minutes in the second half. Actually, the ref was pretty good apart from missing this all night. UNC-G #27 "Long" was class, though he only used his right foot to get on and off the bus. #11 baited the crowd after his goal (someone will close his mouth and take a few teeth out - one day, I expect). Defensively, they are tough but small and I can't help thinking what extra problems will be caused by CofC #18 Milroth (banned for the game for a red-card), will cause. I think he and Myers in the air togther, will totally change the style of the game. I still fancy UNC-G to win if they meet in the SoCon tournament. CofC #15 "Gold" played really well. #12 did a great job of keeping his man quiet in the second half and #7 had great touch and caused a lot of problems for UNC-G. I also felt a couple of players didn't do enough and show enough, so Milroth can certainly add to the mix if they meet again.
See this is the poise and the leadership I remember UNCG squad having way back in the day. We were #1 in DIII, and #1 in DI came to our field on two seperate occassions and both lost (2-0 and 1-0) if I remember correctly. CofC is the most direct attacking team we'll play all year outside of Wake Forest (and maybe UNC). And to win at Patriots Point, where we have had the worst luck is amazing. Hats off to CofC, they played a heck of a game from all accounts. I just hope we don't have to meet again for the tourney title, that could be pretty dangerous for us. These kids keep amazing me, as the #1 ranked team in the nation they are taking everybody's best shot night in and night out. Charleston's coach said it was their best game of the season (and they beat USC 3-0) and we still came out on top. #11 is a sophomore I believe, he'll grow up eventually. #10 (Patterson) is so used to being held that he has learned to score through it. I mean even Wake, Va. Tech and Clemson tugged at him and threw him around all night. Last year (as a freshman) he let it get to hom too much, and it affected his ability to score goals. If he doesn't go project 40 soon, he'll be the centerpiece for two more years of UNCG being in the top 10 in the country.
There is no way C of C nearly doubled UNCG in shots, many of the Cougars shots were knocked down, anyway. Either way, on this nite, the Spartans proved they were the ones capable of putting opponents away despite very high pressure and intensity against them. It was very interesting to see many of Charleston's fans head for the exit after the third goal for UNCG, there was plenty of time left and with Charleston still pressing anything could have happened. But, since there is much on this thread from the C of C website I thought I would post a link to UNCG's write-up postgame. http://www.uncgspartans.com/sports/msoccer/release.asp?RELEASE_ID=10584