Second Half Explosion Propels Pride to Victory
The (Greensboro College) men’s soccer team continued its strong play at home with a 3-0 win over Shenandoah on homecoming weekend. The Pride move to 3-0-1 at Pride Field with the victory and hope to continue that success as they have two more home games this season.
The first half was a tough physical battle with both schools having difficulty finding opportunities to score. Neither team had a strong advantage in possession and the game remained tied until after the half.
The Pride came out the stronger team in the second half and found the break through five minutes in. Freshman Marco Figueroa found some space in the box and dribbled to the endline before crossing a ball low across the six yard box. Hornet’s goalkeeper Zac Rogers, who had replaced starting goalkeeper James Dutcher less than a minute before, got a hand on the cross, but senior Joe Peluso was able to coral the deflection and stick it in to an empty net.
The goal opened the door for The Pride’s offense who found the back of the net twice in the next 10 minutes, both times from freshman Logan Paussa. Paussa’s first goal came on a penalty kick that The Pride earned as freshman Colby Johnson drove hard into the box after a free kick and was taken down hard from behind. Paussa took the penalty very calmly to give The Pride the 2-0 lead.
The final goal came when the two previous goal scorer’s hooked up for a beautiful goal on a set piece. Peluso swung a corner kick into the near post and Paussa found it with his head for his second goal of the game.
Following the first goal, momentum swung heavily in Greensboro’s favor and they dominated possession and opportunities throughout the rest of the game. Shenandoah’s best chance to score came on a late corner kick. The Hornets found some open space for a shot, but it was blocked by a Greensboro defender and fell to another Hornet. The second shot was saved by goalkeeper Woody Wilder, but again Shenandoah found itself on the end of the rebound. The final shot took a deflection near The Pride’s back post, but went harmlessly out of bounds.
The Pride outshot Shenandoah 23-12 in the game and had a 10-2 advantage in corner kicks. Wilder recorded six saves in goal. Dutcher recorded three saves before he left with an injury and Rogers recorded three as well, but allowed all three of the goals. Paussa had a game high six shots, while Peluso added four. Five players for the Hornets took two shots.
The Pride move to 3-4-4, 2-1 in USA South play with the victory. They will be back in action October 19th when the travel to Averett for a 4:00 p.m. game and will return to Pride Field on the 22nd to take on Washington and Lee.