Sept. 1, 2009

Urso, No. 1 Tar Heels Cruise Past Bulldogs, 5-0
Sophomore Kirk Urso logged his first career multi-goal game, and No. 1 North Carolina exploded for three goals in a seven-minute span late in the second half to claim a 5-0 win over UNC Asheville Tuesday in the season opener for both teams at Fetzer Field.

In addition to Urso's pair of quality strikes, the Tar Heels (1-0-0) also got goals from sophomore Alex Dixon, freshman Enzo Martinez and junior Dustin McCarty. Senior goalkeeper Brooks Haggerty went the distance in net and made three stops against the Bulldogs (0-1-0) to log his seventh career shutout.

Carolina's five-goal outburst was its largest offensive output in an opener since an 8-1 win over East Carolina in the first game the 2001 national championship season. 

Schilawski Lifts No. 3 Wake Forest to 1-0 Win Against William & Mary
Wake Forest (1-0-0, 0-0-0 ACC) senior forward Zack Schilawski scored the game-winning goal in the 73rd minute to lift the third-ranked Demon Deacons to a 1-0 win over William & Mary (0-1-0, 0-0-0 CAA) in the 2009 regular season opener on a beautiful Tuesday night at Spry Stadium.

The Wake Forest offense was able to keep constant pressure on William & Mary all game, but couldn't find a goal into late in the second half.

Senior defender Nick Courtney played a cross from near the endline on the left side of the field. The ball found Schilawski, who made a run to the center of the 18-yard box. Schilawski's sliding attempt from six yards out beat the keeper to put Wake Forest in front 1-0. 

Grossman Scores Twice to Lead Duke Past James Madison
Duke University junior Cole Grossman scored a pair of goals in 14 minutes to lead the Blue Devil men's soccer team to a 2-0 win over James Madison in its season opener. Grossman tallied both goals in the second half to seal the first victory of the season.

Duke got into the attack in the early going and earned a corner kick in the fifth minute. Christopher Tweed-Kent sent the ball in from the right side to the head of senior Trae Harrison. Harrison's header sailed into the hands of James Madison goalie Ken Manahan for the first of four first-half saves.

Just minutes later the Dukes were awarded a free kick 25 yards from goal. James Madison's Christian McLaughlin pushed the ball past the wall, but Duke keeper Nick Tsipis was there to tip it over the endline to keep the match scoreless. 

NC State Kicks Off Season with 3-1 Win
The NC State men’s soccer team started its 2009 season with a 3-1 win over Winthrop at the Dail Soccer Field Tuesday night. The Wolfpack (1-0) would score twice in the first half to grab the lead, and give the impressive crowd of 1,800 much to cheer for in the second half with many near misses.

NC State would find the back of the net a pair of times in the first half. Sophomore Kris Byrd got the Pack’s scoring started with his tally in the 17th minute. Senior Alan Sanchez crossed a long ball into the box which found classmate Federico Nachmann on the back post who one touched it into the middle. Senior Ronnie Bouemboue would then flick the ball onto Byrd who scored at the 16:34 mark.

The Pack would add another score before the half with much of the same build up. It was Byrd this time who crossed the ball into the box, where Sanchez controlled it and passed it onto Bouemboue for his first goal of the season at the 30:41 mark. 

Hokies fall to UMBC in season opener
In the opening game of the season, the Virginia Tech men’s soccer team (0-1-0) fell to the UMBC Retrievers (1-0-0) on Tuesday afternoon at UMBC Soccer Stadium, 3-1. James Gilson scored the lone goal for the Hokies, his first of the season.

The Retrievers dominated play in the first half, producing an early lead with two goals in the first 26 minutes of play. Sean Rothe scored first for UMBC as he recovered the ball from eight yards out off a free kick that went wide. Shortly after, Andrew Bulls placed a shot out of the reach of senior Brendan Dunn into the top left corner to give the Retrievers a 2-0 lead that they took into the half.

The Hokies earned three shots in the first half and came close to scoring after back-to-back corner kicks in the final five minutes but were unable to capitalize. h

Boston College Falls At Rhode Island, 1-0
Sophomore forward Edvin Worley attempted a game-high five shots, while two freshmen - midfielder Kyle Bekker and forward Kevin Mejia - each attempted two shots in the match, but host Rhode Island netted the game's only goal in the 58th minute and defeated Boston College, 1-0, in the season-opener for both teams before 200 fans at the URI Soccer Complex.

Senior Gary Crooks connected on a free kick from outside the 18-yard box at 57:51 for the decisive score, while senior goalkeeper Chris Pennock made four saves - all in the game's final 45 minutes - to lift the host Rams (1-0-0) to the win.

Pennock stopped all four BC shots on net in the game's final 45 minutes, including consecutive strikes in the 69th minute off the foot of freshman Kevin Mejia and junior Jeremiah Gallington. 

Gardner-Webb Defeats Clemson 1-0
John Sargent scored a goal late in the first half in leading Gardner-Webb to a 1-0 win over Clemson in a men¹s intercollegiate soccer match at the Tigers¹ Historic Riggs Field Tuesday night.

It was the season opener for both teams that played in front of a crowd of 1,138 spectators.

In the 35th minute, Richie Wall played the ball into the box from the left side. Gerard Hefferon played the ball back to Sargent outside of the box. Sargent, a freshman from Essex, England, fired a 20-yard shot into the upper right corner of the goal that proved to be the game-winner.