UNCG Men’s Soccer Edges Charlotte, 2-1
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The UNC Greensboro (UNCG) men’s soccer team secured its first win of the season behind a 2-1 victory over Charlotte Saturday night at Transamerica Field. The game was called in the 81st minute due to inclement weather.
This was the first meeting between the two teams since September 9, 2014 and the first win against the Niners for the Spartans since September 3, 2013.
From Ethan Conley on the win
“I think that when you are winning a lot of games, you are building momentum and unfortunately when you are losing a lot of games it is hard to get out of that momentum. This game is a huge step in the right direction. The first half wasn’t how we wanted it to go, our energy was really low. The second half was the best mentality wise we have probably had all season. This is what is normal, and this is the standard for this program. This is not a one-off performance; this is what we will get back to.”
HOW IT HAPPENED
UNCG immediately put pressure on Charlotte, keeping the ball in its offensive third. Nabil Homssa had the first shot on goal of the game pulling the Niners’ goalkeeper out of the box and Charlotte’s defense made the save at 7:37. Charlotte responded with its own shot in the 11th minute. Later in the opening frame, the Niners played the ball through their offensive third and Filip Jauk and Riyon Tori found Samy Kolby right outside the six-yard box. Kolby found the bottom left corner of the net at 38:25 for a 1-0 lead.
The Spartans came out of the break with an offensive mentality tallying nine of their 11 shots in the frame. Twenty-nine minutes into the second half, Emmanuel Hagan halted Charlotte from coming through UNCG’s defensive third. UNCG then played the ball on the right side of the field and Ethan Conley entered the 18-yard box. He took one touch on the ball beating a defender and launched the ball to the upper left 90 for the equalizer at 74:52. Just over four minutes later and with a small scramble inside the 18-yard box, Homssa took an initial shot that was blocked, and Colton Sessoms stunned the defense with a strike to the bottom right corner for a 2-1 advantage at 78:59. With a lightning strike in the 81st minute, the teams waited out the delay, but the game was ultimately called final as the Spartans won 2-1.
BY THE NUMBERS
UNCG outshot Charlotte 11-8.
Conley scored his first goal of the season and second-career goal.
Sessoms tallied his first goal of the season and third-career goal.
Homssa registered his second assist of the season.
Conley on his second-career goal
“After the first half, I didn’t expect to be in a position like that. We made a tactical change in the second half. Moments like that you can’t plan and it’s really special to get my second-career goal. Unfortunately, both goals have been away, but I am hoping to get one at home.”
RECORDS
UNCG (1-2-2)
Charlotte (1-1-1)
UP NEXT
UNCG returns home to host its third-straight of four in-state rivals on Tuesday, September 12 welcoming Davidson to the UNCG Soccer Stadium with a start time of 7:00 p.m. The first 100 UNCG students will receive a FREE t-shirt!
Courtesy of Denise Archetto
Assistant Athletic Director For Strategic Communications
UNC Greensboro