Bulldog Blitz: Behind Clarke's Hat Trick, GWU Runs Past PC in 6-1 Conference Road Win
October 16, 2013 | Men's Soccer
Clinton, S.C. - Gardner-Webb scored six goals, including three by way of junior forward Denzel Clarke, over the final 45 minutes of play to blow past the Presbyterian College Blue Hose 6-1 in Big South Conference play on Tuesday night in Clinton, S.C.
The six goals is the most that a GWU team has scored in a single match since the Runnin' Bulldogs scored six goals in a 6-2 win over East Carolina in the season opener in 2005.
GWU's three Norwegians in Ali Al-Gashamy, Marius Hammersmark and Iman Mafi each posted a goal in the early stages of the second half to propel the Runnin' Bulldogs to a 3-0 lead.
After PC's Josh Carter put the home team on the scoreboard in the 57th minute, Gardner-Webb's Clarke scored three goals over the final 11 minutes of the match to lead the visiting Runnin' Bulldogs to a 6-1 road conference win.
Following a first half that saw the Runnin' Bulldogs control the pace of the match and outshoot the home standing Blue Hose 12-2, yet fail to score to keep the match scoreless heading into the second half of play, the final 45 minutes kept the fans on the edge of their seats as the two teams combined for seven goals and 28 total shots.
GWU's Al-Gashamy kicked-off the high-scoring second half right out of the halftime break, as the midfielder collected a loose ball from fellow teammate Dustin Peyton just outside of the box and fired a low liner towards the goal and into the back of the net to put the visitors up 1-0 in the 48th minute. Both the goal and the assist were the first on the season for Al-Gashamy and Peyton.
Less than three minutes later, in the 51st minute, GWU's Hammersmark doubled the Runnin' Bulldogs lead as he made a run from left to right and blasted a shot from the top of the box past the PC goalkeeper to put the score at 2-0. The goal was Hammersmark's fifth of the year.
Not to be outdone by his fellow countrymen, Mafi accounted for his first goal of the season just over a minute later, as the Norwegian midfielder took advantage of a GWU corner kick as the freshman received a cross into the middle of the box from Peyton and ripped a shot toward the goal to put the Runnin' Bulldogs in front 3-0 in the 52nd minute. The goal was Mafi's first of the season.
During the 3-0 scoring span by the Runnin' Bulldogs, Presbyterian was knocking at the door on their end as well, as the Blue Hose had posted three shots of its own, yet was unable to get one past the GWU defense and goalkeeper Matthew Swan until in the57th minute the Blue Hose's Carter put a rebounded ball in front of the goal into the back of the net to put the home team on the scoreboard and cut the Gardner-Webb lead to two at 3-1. The goal was Carter's fifth of the season.
Both teams continued to fire off shots at a rapid pace over the next several minutes of play, as both Swan and PC's Tyler Beadle made a number of saves to keep their teams in the match.
After Presbyterian's Charles Blankenship had a shot hit off the crossbar in the 67th minute, the Runnin' Bulldogs amped up its offensive attack to find that other insurance goal as time ticked off the game clock.
The insurance came by way of Clarke, as the junior put GWU up 4-1 in the 80th minute as he received a cross from midfielder Arjun Jung to the right side of the box where he placed a kick into the left side of the goal for his first goal of the match.
While Swan continued to make stops in between the posts over the final 10 minutes of the match, five saves to be exact during that span, GWU's Clarke added a goal in the 84th minute off a through pass from fellow junior Riley Shelton and a third goal in the 86th minute on his own to propel the Runnin' Bulldogs to a 6-1 road win.
The three goals increased Clarke's total to 11 goals on the year and ties him with Brian Wentzel (2001), Giampi Lapeschi (2005) and Richard Godfrey (2007) with the most goals in a single-season in GWU's NCAA Division I history.
Both GWU's Swan (5-6-1) and PC's Beadle (3-6-0) each recorded eight saves apiece on the night, however, the Runnin' Bulldogs outshot the Blue Hose 25-17 overall and placed 14 shots on frame compared to PC's 10.
Gardner-Webb (5-6-1, 2-3-0 Big South) will remain on the road to take on the VMI Keydets on Saturday, October 19th, at 2:30 p.m. in Lexington, Va. Presbyterian (3-8-0, 1-3-0 Big South) will hit the road to take on the Liberty Flames this Friday night, October 18th, at 7 p.m. in Lynchburg, Va.
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| Box Score: Gardner-Webb 6, Presbyterian 1 |
