Early Deficit Too Big For Bulldogs in 3-1 Loss at UNC Greensboro
October 18, 2009 | Men's Soccer
Greensboro, N.C. - Down 2-0 in the first 10 minutes of the match, the Gardner-Webb men's soccer team fought valiantly for the next 80 minutes of the bout, yet the early deficit proved to be too much, as the Bulldogs dropped the non-conference match 3-1 to UNC Greensboro on Saturday night in Greensboro, N.C.
The loss drops the Bulldogs to 6-5-1 overall and 3-3 on the road this season after starting the year off at 3-0 away from home. With the win, UNC Greensboro snapped a three-game losing streak to improve to 4-7-3 overall.
The Bulldogs appeared sluggish at the start of the match, as the Spartans scored not one, but two goals in the first 10 minutes of play to pull out to an early 2-0 lead.
The Spartans set the tone early, as in the seventh minute Cruz Oronos blasted a shot that hit off the cross bar and landed in the box. GWU attempted to clear the ball out, yet ball found the Spartans' Thomas Campbell who passed the ball to teammate Matt Foxx right in front of the goal who connected on the shot to give the Spartans an early 1-0 lead.
UNC Greensboro added on to its lead only two minutes later, as in the ninth minute the duo of Campbell and Foxx hooked up again, this time it was Foxx picked up the assist, playing a long ball into the box where Campbell beat the Bulldog keeper Trent Kozman to the ball and scored to put the Spartans up 2-0.
Down 2-0 coming out of the halftime intermission, the Bulldogs game out with more fire in the second half, erasing the Spartans' bid of a shutout in the 54th minute. Freshman John Sargent played a long ball to fellow newcomer Romeo Kabanda, who gathered in the ball, stopped and blasted a shot into the upper right corner of the goal to cut the Spartan lead to one at 2-1.
The goal was Kabanda's fourth on the season, while the assist was Sargent's fourth on the year.
With the score at 2-1 in favor of the Spartans, the Bulldogs looked to score the next goal to tie the score up, yet it would be the Spartans' Campbell who would score his second goal of the match in the 86th minute to push the UNC Greensboro lead to 3-1, which would prove to be the final score.
As a team the Bulldogs fired off 14 shots for the match, two more shots than the Spartans. Yet it was the Spartans who put eight shots on target to the Bulldogs seven shots on frame for the contest.
UNC Greensboro goalkeeper Chad Janda picked up the win, corralling five saves over the 90 minutes of play, while Kozman was handed the loss for the Bulldogs despite collecting five saves as well.
The Bulldogs will kick off a three-match home stand next week, as GWU will host Liberty at 7 p.m. on Tuesday night at Greene-Harbison Field on the campus of Gardner-Webb University. That match is slated to be video broadcast over the Big South Network and can be seen by visiting www.bigsouthsports.com.
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| Box Score - UNC Greensboro 3, Gardner-Webb 1 |
