CLINTON, S.C. – The Presbyterian College men's soccer team found
itself in a scoreless tie heading into the final 10 minutes of its match against
Georgia State on Tuesday night, but the Panthers scored three late goals to
hold off the Blue Hose, 3-0.
PC falls to 0-3-0 on the year. Georgia State improves to
1-2-0.
In a tightly contested game, PC fired 13 shots on Georgia
State and four on goal, including chances from Jonny Mercado (Lilburn, Ga.), Luke Ade (Alpharetta, Ga.) and Thomas Palma (Greenville, S.C.). The
rain-soaked match began after a 30-minute delay due to a nearby storm.
Tanner Osborne (Lexington, S.C.) made four saves on the day,
including two—snagging a hard free kick and diving left to steer a shot wide—midway
through the second half to keep the match tied at 0-0.
The Blue Hose controlled much of the first half, sending
several of their eight first half shots just wide. PC found a chance from in
close near the end of the frame on an Ade shot, but goalkeeper Vincent Foermer
managed to get in front of the powerful attempt.
Monchetti showed speed engineering the PC attack in the
opening frame, setting up runs and looking for crosses inside. Mercado also sent
in a long ball on a free kick seconds before the halftime break that nearly
sailed over Foermer's leaping grab, but the two teams entered halftime tied,
0-0.
Mercado opened the second half in similar fashion to how he
ended the first, firing a shot from outside the goal box that dipped at the
last moment and appeared headed into the net. The shot moved low enough,
however, for Foermer to punch it over the crossbar.
After the Mercado chance, the Panthers forced Osborne to
make his two second half saves and keep Georgia State off the scoreboard.
Monchetti continued to press forward on offense, making a
run into the box but straying too close to a diving Foermer, who took the ball
off of his foot. The freshman also connected with Thomas Palma on a cross in the
box a few minutes later, but the senior's shot found Foermer.
The Blue Hose defense moved up to draw five offside calls on
the night and limit Georgia State to primarily counterattacks, but the Panthers
took advantage of a free kick in the 81st minute to score the match's
first goal. Eric Lawrence lofted a long free kick to the head of Peter Vania to
put the visitors up, 1-0.
Georgia State struck a little over two minutes later on a
Yasser Majluf run to increase its advantage, 2-0.
PC found its offensive rhythm after the second goal and
played much of the remainder in the Georgia State end, but the Panthers added
another score with 15 seconds left on an Evan Scott goal.
The Blue Hose return to Martin Stadium on Saturday when the
squad hosts Erskine at 7 p.m.
