Road Shutout: GWU's Mafi and Al-Gashamy Post Goals in 2-0 Road Win at Campbell
October 26, 2013 | Men's Soccer
Buies Creek, N.C. - Gardner-Webb picked up a goal from both Iman Mafi and Ali Al-Gashamy and saw freshman goalkeeper Matthew Swan post six saves as the Runnin' Bulldogs blanked the Campbell Fighting Camels 2-0 on Saturday afternoon in Buies Creek, N.C.
The win, which is GWU's fourth straight victory, pushes the Runnin' Bulldogs to 8-6-1 overall and 5-3-0 in the Big South, while the loss drops Campbell to 4-7-3 overall and 4-1-1 in conference play.
GWU's Mafi put the Runnin' Bulldogs on the scoreboard in the 58th minute on a turnover in the Campbell's defensive third, while fellow Norwegian Al-Gashamy scored in the 88th minute to seal the 2-0 road win.
Campbell, who entered the match unbeaten in conference play, looked to take an early lead in the opening minutes as the Runnin' Bulldogs were called for a foul in the box which gave the home team a penalty kick opportunity in the third minute.
On the ensuing penalty kick, Campbell's Justin Franz had his shot knocked away by GWU's Swan in between the posts to keep the Fighting Camels off the scoreboard.
Each team recorded two shots apiece over the next 10 minutes of play, with each goalkeeper making one stop apiece and the each defensive unit making a block on the other respective shot attempt.
The Fighting Camels then begin to set the pace of the opening half, as Isaiah Page had a header knocked offline and out of play by Swan in the 12th minute to force back-to-back corner kicks.
Minutes later in the 20th minute, the Fighting Camels had perhaps its best scoring chance of the first half, as the home team played a corner kick into the box where Jhuvon Francis got his head on it and sent it towards the goal only to see it dink off the crossbar.
Over the final 25 minutes of the opening half, GWU was able to only register one shot attempt, a shot by Craig Swaby in the 36th minute, yet remained in the contest by way of Swan, who stopped two more Campbell shots during that span to send the match into the halftime break tied at 0-0.
The Camels looked to continue to force the issue in the second half, as both Franz and Pepe Rangel recorded shots over the first six minutes of play, however, it would be the Runnin' Bulldogs who would get on the scoreboard first.
In the 58th minute, Gardner-Webb's Mafi took advantage of a turnover by the Campbell defense in the Runnin' Bulldogs' attacking third as the freshman lined up a shot with his left foot just inside the box and put the ball into the back of the net to give the visitors the 1-0 lead. The goal was Mafi's second of the season.
With the 1-0 lead, the Gardner-Webb defense solidified even more, as Campbell's Franz posted back-to-back shots in the 58th minute, the first of which was saved by Swan in goal, as frustration mounted on the home team's sidelines.
Both teams continued to control possession over the next several minutes of play, as both Franz for CU and Al-Gashamy for GWU each pushed shots wide of the net to keep the score at 1-0 with just under 15 minutes to go in regulation.
GWU's leading scoring Denzel Clarke put a shot on target in the 83rd minute, which was hauled in by Hall in the goal, as the visitors looked for an insurance goal late in the match.
Both Patrick Gürser and Clarke blasted shows over the next few minutes of play, yet it would be Al-Gashamy who would provide some insurance for GWU, as the midfielder scored in the 88th minute off an assist from Clarke. The goal was Al-Gashamy's four of the season.
The GWU defense would hold Campbell to only one shot over the final 20 minutes of play as the Runnin' Bulldogs blanked the Fighting Camels 2-0.
Swan had six saves in the win to improve to 8-6-1 overall, while Campbell's Hall totaled four saves on the afternoon.
Despite being outshot 15-10 by the Fighting Camels, both GWU and Campbell recorded six shots on goal for the match.
Clarke led the GWU attack with three shots, all of which were on goal, while both Al-Gashamy and Hammersmark totaled two shots apiece.
Gardner-Webb (8-6-1, 5-3-0 Big South) will return home to host the Winthrop Eagles in a pivotal Big South match on Wednesday night, October 30th, at 7 p.m. at Greene-Harbison Field.
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| Box Score: Gardner-Webb 2, Campbell 0 |
