College of Charleston
Elon
M. Soccer Downs No. 20 Elon
10/17/2012 2:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
ELON, N.C. – The College of Charleston men's soccer team took down No. 20 Elon, 3-2, to move into first place in the Southern Conference standings at Rudd Field on Tuesday evening. Elon, which was ranked No. 20 in the NSCAA / Continental Tire Coaches Poll and No. 18 in the NCAA RPI rankings, was the ninth ranked team CofC has squared with this season.
“Tonight was a great result for our
program,” said head coach Ralph Lundy. “Not only did it help us in the Southern
Conference standings, but since Elon was #18 in the most-recent NCAA RPI, we
are very excited about this win.
“I thought we moved
the ball really well tonight and had some great combination play in the final
third. We must refocus for another tough match versus Davidson on Saturday.”
The Cougars (7-8-0, 3-1-0 SoCon) jumped out to a 2-0 lead before Elon was granted – and converted on – two penalty kicks to equalize, but CofC answered once more with the eventual game winner. All goals were scored in the first half.
CofC took the early lead when Luke Huggett (Brighton, England) found a ball from Sean de Silva (Port of Spain, Trinidad) and put it into the net off of a deflection from the Elon keeper. The 10th minute goal was Huggett's third of the season.
In the 20th minute, CofC put a cross into the box and benefitted from the Phoenix misplaying the ball into their own goal to get the Cougars up 2-0.
The tide of the match seemed to turn when Elon was granted back-to-back penalty kicks around the 25th minute of the match. The nation's leading scorer, Chris Thomas, converted both kicks – separated by 1:52 of game clock – to equalize the match with his 18th and 19th goals of the season.
The Cougars regrouped and remained-attack minded and saw their efforts pay off yet again when, in the 35th minute, Ralphie Lundy (Mt. Pleasant, S.C.) gathered a rebound and sent the ball to Connor Coons (Alpharetta, Ga.) who put the ball into the net for his first goal of the season ultimately game winner.
Elon was heavy on the attack in the second period but the Cougars weathered their attempts with Kees Heemskerk (Zaandam, Netherlands) making two big second-half saves to preserve the win.
The Cougars were outshot, 12-6, in the contest but found more quality in their attempts as both sides put five shots on the target.
The match was the Cougars' final road game of the season and, with the win, the Cougars moved into first place in the SoCon standings by virtue of now possessing the head-to-head tiebreaker with the Phoenix.
CofC ends the season with a three-match home stand beginning with Davidson on Saturday, Oct. 20. The Cougars and Wildcats kickoff at 7 p.m. at Patriots Point.
