from Bryan Jones, Greensboro College Sports Information Director:
GREENSBORO, N.C.—-Greensboro College’s Darli Mihindou (Greensboro, N.C./Eastern Guilford) tallied five points as the Pride claimed a Saturday afternoon victory over Carolina University, 5-0.
After a quiet first 15 minutes of the first half, the Pride began to gain dominance over possession of the ball that was alternating between both sides in the early stages. As the Pride began to put their foothold on the possession advantage, Mihindou collected a loose ball off of a deflected long pass and gained 20 yards of open space. From about 20 yards out from the goal, Mihindou booted the ball into the right-central part of the net to claim the contest’s first goal in the 23rd minute. Teammate Jordy Briceno teamed up with Mihindou in the 36th minute on a free kick where Briceno launched a long pass to Mihindou for a header inside the 18-yard box for the game’s second goal.
Mihindou found himself on the giving end in the second half. After a shot attempt that bounced off goalkeeper Heymans Martinez, Mihindou settled the ball at the top of the 18-yard box while Christian Thomas sprinted in from the right side. Mihindou rolled the ball towards Thomas cutting to the center of the net, booting the ball from almost ten-yards out to extend the Pride’s lead, 3-0, in the 60th minute.
Other Greensboro teammates began to get involved in the offense. Like Mihindou minutes earlier, Briceno received a rebound from his own initial shot off a Martinez save at the top of the 18-yard box. A defender tripped Briceno up after he took three strides towards the goal inside the box, earning a penalty kick. Briceno netted the strike from the mark towards the left portion of the goal, sending Martinez the other direction to extend the lead further in the 64th minute. Over the final 15 minutes, William Curry (Lexington, N.C./Central Davidson) had two strong open runs at the net, but Martinez came out past the 18-yard box each time to stop his momentum and clear the ball away. In the 89th minute, Curry finally broke through on an open half-field run with the help of a Jeffrey Lackey feed, beating Martinez while he was playing up in the box again and sliding the ball into the net to put an exclamation point on the Pride’s victory.
Greensboro out-shot Carolina University, 23-5, after the shot count remained even, 2-2, over the first 25 minutes. The Bruins held a slight 4-3 edge in corner kicks thanks to a late corner kick in the final minute. The Bruins tallied the most fouls, 14-11, over the Pride.
The Pride now turns their attention to USA South Athletic Conference East Division play, opening their conference season with Methodist University next Saturday for a noon kick-off on Pride Field.