CLINTON, S.C. ? Presbyterian College's men's soccer team mounted a furious second half rally in its opener with Wofford, but it was not enough to overcome an early 2-0 deficit as Wofford earned a 3-2 win over the Blue Hose on Friday evening at Martin Stadium.
The Terriers opened the game by netting the two goals in the first 14 minutes of the contest.
PC and Wofford went into intermission with the Blue Hose down 2-0, but PC quickly climbed out of its hole by scoring two goals in just under a minute in the second half.
Freshman Michael Czulinski (Columbia, S.C./Spring Valley) picked up PC's first goal of the regular season in the 69th-minute when he used a flick from Nick Whicker (Collierville, Tenn./St. Georges) to place the Blue Hose behind by just one at 2-1.
The Blue Hose kept pressuring for the equalizer and their aspirations were answered at the 69:41 mark when senior Jay Stewart (Roswell, Ga./Roswell) deftly put in a one-timer in the six-yard box from sophomore Yinka Salaam (London, England/Kingston University).
Wofford (1-0) would answer PC's charge just over four minutes later when team captain Nick Schuermann scored the eventual game-winner on a deflection in the Blue Hose six-yard box at the 73:49 mark.
The Terriers first arrived on the scoreboard in the 11th-minute, scoring on a set piece. Branson Hyatt scored the goal when he deflected in teammate Yakov Rubinchik's pass from approximately 35 yards out.
Just over three minutes later Wofford's Wilson Hood led Wofford to a 2-0 lead when he blasted in a corner kick from Moe Kelli that went into the upper left corner of the Blue Hose net.
PC finished the narrow loss to Wofford with seven more shot attempts than the Terriers. The Blue Hose took 16 shots in the contest, while Wofford shot the ball nine times. PC had nine corner kicks in the game compared to Wofford's three.
The Blue Hose (17) were credited with 10 more fouls than the Terriers (7) in the game.
PC (0-1) next travels to Columbia, S.C. to square off against the University of South Carolina Gamecocks at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 2 at Stone Stadium.
