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Athletic News
10/31/2009 -
Mount Olive Ties Nationally 13th-Ranked Anderson 1-1 In Conference Carolinas Men's Soccer
John Mendoza broke a scoreless tie in the 66th minute and Mount Olive withstood a 22-shot attack for a 1-1 double overtime tie against nationally 13th-ranked Anderson in Conference Carolinas men’s soccer Saturday at Amon Field. The Trojans came within five minutes of a shutout before giving up a goal on Anderson’s 10th corner kick of the match. Saturday’s contest was the regular season finale for both teams.
With the tie, coupled with Belmont Abbey’s win against Erskine Saturday, Mount Olive is the No. 7 seed in the 2009 Conference Carolinas Men’s Soccer Tournament. The Trojan travel to No. 2 seed Limestone for the first round.
Mount Olive (6-9-1 overall, 3-6-1 Conference Carolinas) battled Anderson to a 0-0 tie at halftime, despite being outshot 9-5 in the first 45 minutes. Anderson (12-2-3, 6-1-3) looked to get on the scoreboard in the 28th minute on Ryan Messick’s shot into an open net, but Mount Olive defender Ramon Gallardo cleared the ball away from just in front of the goal.
Gallardo nearly broke the deadlock five minutes later after an Anderson foul gave Mount Olive a free kick just above the top of the box. Gallardo’s shot deflected off the Anderson wall and Mount Olive was unable to convert the ensuing corner kick.
Mount Olive goalkeeper Jamie Carano prevented an Anderson goal off a 22-yard direct kick in the 64th minute. Adrien Moufflet’s shot deflected off the Mount Olive wall and Carano tipped the ball over the crossbar.
The match would remain scoreless for only two more minutes as a Mount Olive counter-attack would break the deadlock. Chris McClaugherty played the ball to Vincent Fluellen on the left sideline. Fluellen centered the ball to Murilo Pelegrino and Pelegrino played the ball to Mendoza at the top right of the box. Mendoza found the upper 90 to give the Trojans a 1-0 lead at the 65:33 mark.
The momentum shifted in Anderson’s favor after Mount Olive’s goal with seven shots and three corner kicks over the next 16 minutes. Mount Olive blocked a shot by Moufflet, Mendoza cleared a ball that was just in front of the goal and Lasse Sohrweide had a shot nip the top of the crossbar as Mount Olive maintained the lead.
But Anderson would finally convert a corner kick as Sohrweide headed in Moufflet’s service from the right corner to even the match at the 85:17 mark.
Carano recorded saves on Anderson’s final two shots of regulation, the last coming with 35 seconds left, to force overtime. Neither team had any shot attempts in the first overtime and Anderson missed on its only shot in the second overtime.
Anderson outshot Mount Olive 22-8 for the match, including an 11-0 advantage after Mendoza’s goal. Carano, who narrowly missed his second shutout in as many starts, finished with six saves for the Trojans. Benjamin Pepion recorded two saves in the first half for Anderson. Lukas Hesse played in goal the remainder of the match.
Prior to the contest, Mount Olive seniors Angelo Acquah and Adrian Daniels were honored during Senior Day festivities. Daniels says the team is disappointed in not being able to hold on for the win, but feels they’re going into the conference tournament with momentum.
“I was hoping we could pull this one out, but we got a little unlucky late in the match,” said Daniels, a senior from Greenville, N.C. “But with the win (1-0 at Erskine) last week and a tie against a nationally ranked team today, I think we’re playing our best soccer of the season going into the tournament.”
With the tie, Anderson is the No. 4 seed and plays host to No. 5 Coker Monday in the first round.
Mount Olive hopes to avenge a 3-0 loss at Limestone earlier this month. The two teams have met only once in the conference tournament as the Trojans fell to Limestone 3-2 in the semifinal round of the 2006 conference tournament. Match time Tuesday is 2 p.m. at Gaffney, S.C.