Tyler Sanders, PBA Sailfish Men's Soccer Claims NCCAA National Title

December 4, 2010

Written By: Michael Brown, Assistant A.D. for Athletic Communications

KISSIMMEE, Fla.- Coming in as the #6-seed, not many may have expected the Palm Beach Atlantic University men’s soccer team to make a run at the NCCAA National Championship in 2010. That dream however was realized when the Sailfish defeated Cedarville University 2-0 on Saturday evening to claim the program’s first-ever NCCAA title at Austin Tindall Park as hundreds of Sailfish fans made the short trek north to cheer on the Blue and White in action.

Having finished runner-up for the top prize in 2007 while making appearances the last five seasons overall under head coach Jose Gomez, the Fish finally earned the title by performing at the top of their game when it mattered most.

After a scoreless first-half between the two determined sides, the Sailfish claimed the win with a pair of goals early in the second-half as sophomore Charlie Hubbard posted the first score 30 seconds into the half while sophomore Gabe Carneiro received a long throw-in from freshman Tyler Sanders (Arsenal '92 Premier) to add the insurance goal in the 52nd minute.

Although the Hubbard goal was a bit unique in how the ball found the back of the net, the second Sailfish goal would be more simple and an easy insurance score. After a long ball went out on the Yellowjackets near the corner, Sanders deposited a long over-hand throw-in over the top of the CU defense and to the feet of Carneiro who easily poked the ball past the keeper for a 2-0 lead in the 52nd minute.

Now blessed with a multi-goal advantage, the Sailfish defense would settle in for what would be a barrage of CU tries only for the scoreboard to remain zero for the Yellowjackets as the final horn sounded and the Sailfish mobbed their teammates at center field.

CU had breezed through their first two matches of the tournament with consecutive 4-0 victories including knocking off #1-seed Covenant College on Thursday evening to meet PBA for the championship.




Gabe Warner, Hornets Beat Lindsey-Wilson College 2-1 to Advance to Round of 16

Saturday November 20

Columbia, KY. - Southern Polytechnic Men's Soccer team traveled to Columbia, KY to take on the eight time National Champions, Lindsey Wilson College. The Hornets, playing in their third ever National Tournament match, in only their fourth year of existence, held on to win 2-1. Senior Midfielder, Christian Castillo, scored twice to give the Hornets the upset victory over the #6 seed, LWC, who finished the year 15-4-1 and ranked #5 in the NAIA Coaches Poll.

The match started, as expected, with the young Hornets trying to get used to the pace of the national powerhouse Blue Raiders. "Lindsey has the most amount of talent I have seen all year. They are all very athletic and technical," said SPSU Head Coach, Kom Momeni. Once the Hornets settled down, they broke through midfield and were fouled on the right side of the goal about 27 yards out. The free kick was taken by Sean Grisham, who found the head of Emeka Maduka. Maduka's header hit the cross bar and fell in front of Kouami d'Almeida, who struck the ball right at the LWC keeper, Greg Hartley. The rebound was knocked in the back of the net by a very opportunistic Castillo in the 14th minute. "I am very happy for Christian, as he has had so many good games all year long, but couldn't finish. He needed that goal to lift his spirits," said Momeni.
In the 37th minute, the Blue Raiders equalized with a brilliant goal by Lebogang Moloto, assisted by Joe Tait, who beat a Hornet defender and served a perfect ball into the box. Lebogang blasted a shot high into the net to send the match even into half time.

However, the match changed 40 seconds after the Lebogang goal, when LWC center back, Chris Williams received two yellow cards and was ejected from the match.

The second half was much of the same as the Blue Raiders had most of the play, even though they were playing a man down. The Hornets took advantage of their first shot in the half and scored the game winner in the 56th minute. It was an impressive set of combination passes between midfielders that broke down the Blue Raiders defense on the left flank. A simple pass from Sean Grisham to Castillo was the final pass in front of the LWC GK, who was beaten by a flick to the far post. "Our game winner tonight was nice to watch as it involved most of our midfield players," added Momeni.

Throughout the night, LWC applied pressure on the Hornet back line and Senior, Goalkeeper, Eric Ati. Time and again, they came up big with either, individual stops, or collective efforts to keep the ball out of the back of the net. "Lindsey is so explosive going forward. Our boys defended their hearts out tonight. I am so proud of their effort. They beat a fantastic team, who created a lot of chances. Eric came up huge tonight on services and corners. He was excellent in the air. Marcos (Mendez) also did a great job. It was the third time in a row where he shut down a big time forward."

LWC ended with 16 shots, while the Hornets only had nine. They also had more corners than the Hornets (9 to 5). Hartley finished the night with one save, while Ati had four.

With the win, SPSU travels to Orange Beach, AL to participate in the second straight Round of Sixteen in the NAIA National Championships. They will take on Holy Names University (CA) on Tuesday November 30th at 2:30pm (CST).



Norton Earns Men's Soccer All-Conference Honors

11/10/2010

STATESBORO, Ga. - Two Georgia Southern Men's Soccer players earned 2010 Southern Conference honors as announced by the conference office Wednesday, November 10th. Senior forward Jon Cox (Marietta, Ga.) was named to the 2010 All-Southern Conference second team by the league's men's soccer head coaches and Hunter Norton (Evans, Ga.) was selected to the All-Freshman team.
Cox had a solid season on the pitch as the Eagles' top scorer with 10 points, recording four goals adding two assists. Norton started all 17 games for Georgia Southern and was the second-leading scorer behind Cox with seven points off two goals and three assists.



Campbell named AAC Offensive Player of Week for men's soccer

Posted by Steve Ruthsatz - Mon, Sep 27, 2010

WALESKA, Ga. -- Reinhardt University Men's soccer player Steven Campbell was named the Appalachian Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Week for his play from Sept. 20-26. It marks the first time Campbell has earned the weekly conference honor.
Campbell, a 5-foot-10, 165-pound freshman forward from Martinez, Ga., had two goals and one assist as Reinhardt went 1-1 last week with its only loss being 2-0 at Shorter University, which is ranked 20th nationally in the NAIA. Campbell's goals and assist came in the Eagles' 3-2 AAC win at Bluefield College.

On the season, Campbell has played in all seven games with six starts. He has three goals and an assist for seven points.

Reinhardt is 4-2-1 overall and 1-1 in the AAC. The Eagles play a non-conference match on Wednesday at Southern Polytechnic State University, which received seven votes in the latest NAIA poll to rank tied for 42nd in the country. The game is scheduled for 3 p.m. in Marietta, Ga.