College of Charleston
Louisville
Pair of Late Goals End Men's Soccer's NCAA Championship Run
11/22/2010 4:57:00 AM | Men's Soccer
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The College of Charleston men's soccer team fell, 3-1, in the second round of the NCAA Men's Soccer Championship to No. 1 seed Louisville at Cardinal Park on Sunday evening.
The Cougars had a 6-4 shot-on-goal advantage in a CofC-controlled second period but a pair of late countering-runs resulted in Louisville goals and the 3-1 decision.
CofC ends its season at 11-5-3. The Cardinals remain unbeaten on the season and improve to 17-0-3, advancing to see No. 16 Ohio State in the third round of the tournament.
"Our team played a great, great game," said head coach Ralph Lundy. "Louisville is a tremendous team with a ton of weapons that all are on the same page. We did a great job of creating chances and putting pressure on them throughout the match.
"The atmosphere out there was terrific. Every fan that was in the place was screaming and yelling. Everyone was excited."
The Cougars forced the Cardinals back into their own third in the match's early going and did well moving the ball forward, creating several early chances from threatening spots.
In the 18th minute, the Cards drew a dangerous free kick from just a yard outside the 18-yard box but the Cougars' defensive wall was well positioned and Jake Helmig (Myrtle Beach, S.C.) blocked the shot aside.
Louisville made CofC pay on the ensuing corner kick, however, when a bouncing ball slipped to the boot of Paulo DelPiccolo who struck the cross bar from six yards away. Nick DeLeon was able to get his head on the ball which deflected directly downward off the bar for the 20th minute goal.
The Coguars were not deterred by the Cards' early goal and successfully equalized on a 25th minute corner kick with Sean de Silva (Port of Spain, Trinidad) serving up the entry ball. Senior defender Sean Flatley (Virginia Beach, Va.) got to the ball at the far post and headed it into the open net. The goal marked Flatley's fourth of the season and de Silva's team-high ninth assist.
The teams both saw quality chances in the remaining minutes of the first half but the score remained 1-1 at the break. Louisville led in shots, 13-9, at the intermission with each team putting three on frame.
The second half of the match was more free-flowing and played mostly in the middle third of the field. The Cougars actually looked to be the more threatening team for the majority of the second period.
Early in the 84th minute, however, Louisville was able to break a run through when Nick DeLeon threaded a ball through the Cougar defense on the left side of the field where Colin Rolfe received it at the top of the box and scored the go-ahead goal with a low strike.
Louisville then sealed the deal in the 89th minute with some fancy fall movement in the box towards Charlie Campbell who also capitalized on an opening in the box, making the score 3-1.
5,197 fans were on hand to see the match which was the largest crowd to ever see a college-level soccer game in the state of Kentucky.
