Eagles Use Strong Second Half to Shutout Gardner-Webb in Men's Soccer Action
September 02, 2012 | Men's Soccer
Spartanburg, S.C. - In what was a tale of two different halves, the Gardner-Webb men's soccer team surrendered two goals in the second half of play to fall to the Eagles of Georgia Southern, 2-0, on the pitch Sunday afternoon at the Big South/SoCon Challenge hosted by Wofford College in Spartanburg, S.C.
The loss drops Gardner-Webb to 0-4 on the season, while Georgia Southern improves to 2-1 on the year with the win.
The Runnin' Bulldogs offense looked to score early, as junior Marius Hammersmark fired a shot off that was blocked by a Georgia Southern defender in the fifth minute of play.
The GWU offense continued to put pressure on the Eagles defense, as freshman Craig Swaby put a shot on target in the 17th minute, which was saved by Georgia Southern's goalkeeper Jack Falle, while less than three minutes later fellow midfielder Lyssean Thomas had his shot attempt blocked in the 19th minute.
Georgia Southern looked to get on the scoreboard over the next several minutes, yet the Eagles were called for two offside's penalties and failed to convert on a corner kick to keep the score at 0-0 through the first 31 minutes of play.
GWU's Chris Davis posted a shot that sailed wide left of the goal in the 34th minute, as the Runnin' Bulldogs outshot the Eagles 4-1 over the first 45 minutes of play.
The two teams combined for 13 fouls and two yellow cards in the scoreless first half that was physical throughout.
In the second half the Eagles were the aggressor, as Georgia Southern came out firing by posting three shots in the first five minutes of play, putting one on target, which was stopped by a GWU defender, while the other two sailed high and offline.
After Gardner-Webb was called for an offside's call minutes later, the Eagles went back on the attack, posting four shots over a two minute span.
With the score still tied up at 0-0, Georgia Southern finally broke through the GWU defense in the 63rd minute, as Nick Lane played a long pass to the far side of the 18-yard box to Witt Carlisle who put his shot into the back of the net to put the Eagles up 1-0.
Less than a minute later, Georgia Southern would take advantage of a penalty kick opportunity, as Drew Ruggles made good on the goal to push the Eagles lead out to 2-0 in the 65th minute.
Refusing to quit, Gardner-Webb's first shot attempt of the second half came in the 69th minute, as redshirt-junior midfielder Satoshi Tatsumi put a shot on frame that was knocked away by Falle.
On the ensuing corner kick, GWU couldn't get a shot off and was later called for another offside's to keep the score at 2-0 in favor of the Eagles through 70 minutes of play.
After a save by Gardner-Webb goalkeeper Scott Krotee on another Eagle shot attempt in the 74th minute, redshirt-senior Jon Ole Reinhardsen looked to put the Runnin' Bulldogs on the scoreboard, but saw his shot attempt sail high and over the goal in the 77th minute.
Five minutes later, off a corner kick, Reinhardsen had a header again sail high, as the Runnin' Bulldogs continued to find their first goal.
In the closing minutes, Gardner-Webb's Davis had a header off a corner kick blocked in the 88th minute, while Swaby's last chance effort in the 89th minute was once again stopped by Georgia Southern's Falle, as the Runnin' Bulldogs failed to score in the 2-0 loss.
The Eagles outshot Gardner-Webb 14-5 in the second half, while five of those 14 shots were on goal.
Gardner-Webb's Krotee, who had three saves in the contest, falls to 0-4 on the season with the loss, while Falle, who also had three saves for the match, earned the win.
Gardner-Webb had three players in Reinhardsen, Swaby and Davis each post two shots apiece, while both of Swaby's were on frame.
The penalty kick on Sunday afternoon was the third penalty kick that the Runnin' Bulldogs have allowed this season.
Gardner-Webb (0-4) will now look to regroup, as the Runnin' Bulldogs will have 12 days before they return to action to take on the Dayton Flyers on September 14th, at 5:30 p.m. in Dayton, Ohio.
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| Box Score: Georgia Southern 2, GWU 0 |
