College of Charleston
Georgia Southern
M. Soccer Suffers Overtime Loss to Georgia Southern
10/28/2012 2:10:00 AM | Men's Soccer
MT. PLEASANT, S.C. – The College of Charleston men's soccer team fell in overtime, 2-1, to Georgia Southern on a chilly and windy Saturday night at Patriots Point. The loss prevented CofC from locking up the Southern Conference regular-season championship on Saturday night, but the Cougars still control their own destiny heading into Tuesday night's season finale against Wofford.
The match saw the Cougars in control of the play while outshooting and out-possessing the Eagles. After over seventy minutes of highly-contested, physical soccer, CofC produced a 1-0 advantage on the boot of Luke Huggett (Brighton, England), only to relinquish it in the 81st minute and allow the game winner in the 95th minute.
“Well we have got to be strong right now,” said head coach Ralph Lundy. “Everyone is disappointed because that was not the result we wanted. We were up 1-0 and needed to hold on to that lead and finish the game. They came on strong in the last 10 and got the goal and then got the goal in overtime – very disappointing. We have a choice now. Our choice is going to be getting after it. We have a game Tuesday night and that will win the conference. That's what we need to do.”
CofC enjoyed the return of senior captain Shawn Ferguson (Rock Hill, S.C.) who missed seven matches – the only matches he hasn't started in his four-year career – with a broken bone in his cheek which he suffered on Sept. 25 at Coastal Carolina. Ferguson was more offensively oriented than fans were perhaps used to seeing, as the previously-perennial central-defender played up in the midfield and took a team-high four shots.
After a period-and-a-half of scoreless soccer, the Cougars got on the board with some clever passing between Ferguson, Huggett and Sam Redmond (Asheville, N.C.) which sprung Redmond alone in the right side of the box. Redmond lined a shot back to his left which Eagle keeper Neal Bates was able to get a finger to, but the rebound fell to Huggett who slid through the ball and booted it into the back of the net.
Just under 10 minutes later, brothers Hunter and Reed Norton connected for the Eagles to equalize the match. Hunter Norton slipped a pass behind the Cougar defense to his younger brother Reed Norton who was able to get within 10 yards and crush a shot just under the crossbar.
Following the equalizer, it was apparent that the teams would not be content with a tie as the 10 remaining minutes of regulation saw both sides produce a flurry of chances with end-to-end counter attacks.
In overtime, the Eagles elected to take a short corner kick and Drew Ruggles dribbled towards the left side of the box before sending a high-arching cross to the far post where Thomas Valikonis was able to head the ball into the net.
The Cougars still control their own destiny in the SoCon standings and could still clinch the No. 1 seed and a share of the regular-season championship with a win over Wofford. The match is slated to begin at 7 p.m. and will serve as Senior Day when the Cougars will commemorate the careers of a highly instrumental senior class.
