Elon Defeats Davidson Men's Soccer In Overtime

Saturday, October 10

Elon, N.C.

7:30 p.m.

Davidson College Athletics

9-2-0, 2-1-0

Elon

6-4-1, 3-0-0

Team	1	2	OT 2	Final F
Davidson	1	0	0	1
Elon University	0	1	1	2

Chip Sanders made a career-high eight saves

Photo by: Tim Cowie - DavidsonPhotos.com

Elon Defeats Davidson Men's Soccer In Overtime

10/10/2009 10:40:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Box Score

By: Mark Brumbaugh

ELON, N.C. – An Elon goal in the fifth minute of overtime halted the Davidson men's soccer team's winning streak at seven, as the Wildcats were defeated 2-1 on Saturday night at Rudd Field.

Brad Franks scored the match-winner 4:28 into the extra frame. Erfan Imeni collected his own rebound from a saved shot and sent a touch pass to Franks, who scored from 18-yards out.

The matchup pitted the Southern Conference's top defense in Elon (now averaging 0.73 goals allowed per game) against the conference's top offense in Davidson (now averaging 2.54 goals per game). Elon (6-4-1) now sits alone atop the Southern Conference standings at 3-0. Davidson (9-2) falls to 2-1 in SoCon play.

Southern Conference scoring leader Charlie Reiter (Westport, Conn.) gave the Wildcats a 1-0 lead in the 11th minute. Junior forward Yannick Pilgrim (Arima, Trinidad & Tobago slid a pass to Reiter through some Elon defenders, and then Reiter eluded another defender to score his eighth goal of the season on a shot to the right-post side.

“I thought we outplayed them and had more scoring opportunities in the first half, but Elon came out with a reinvigorated, energized commitment in the second half that we were unable to match.” said Davidson head coach Matt Spear. “We got out of rhythm and they took the momentum, so we ended up playing parts of the second half on our heels.”

The 'Cats held the lead until early in the second half. Sophomore goalkeeper Chip Sanders (Thomasville, Ga.) made a career-high six saves before Elon scored in the 56th minute. An Elon attacker sent a long cross pass in front of the net, which Elon's Steven Kinney found for the goal.

Sanders finished the night with eight saves. The Wildcats outshot Elon 6-3 in the first half, but Elon responded with 11 shots in the second half and three in overtime to outshoot Davidson 17-8 for the match.

“It's hard losing in overtime, but the guys will push themselves back up and be stronger for it,” said Spear. “We did not play as well in the second half, but we still put ourselves in position to win in overtime.”

Davidson will host conference foes Appalachian State (Oct. 14) and Furman (Oct. 17) next week. Both matches are set for 7 p.m. in Alumni Stadium.