Torre’s Goal over No. 2 Wofford Books No. 3 Men’s Soccer a Spot in the SoCon Title Game
SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The No. 3-seeded UNC Greensboro (UNCG) men’s soccer team (7-2-9) is back in The Southern Conference (SoCon) Championship Game for the second straight season after downing No. 2 Wofford (8-5-4) by a score of 1-0 at Snyder Field on Sunday night.
Pablo Torre’s strike just past the hour mark was the decisive moment, the junior’s finish combined with a sixth clean sheet of the season for the Spartan defense enough to send Head Coach Chris Rich and company into the final matchup.
HOW IT HAPPENED
UNCG was off on the front foot early, Keaviano Francis setting the tone in the fourth minute with a low effort that was stopped by Wofford goalkeeper Evan Morris. Spartans’ netminder Seth Wilson responded in the 16th minute with a stop of his own, getting low to deny Taylor Bowen.
Trym Linberg and Steven Hernandez were the next two Spartans to have shots turned away by Morris in the 22nd and 29thminutes, respectively. Wilson returned to action in the 30th minute to make his second save of the night, halting the final attempt of the first half as the 15 minutes before the break turned into a defensive battle.
The defensive theme from the end of the first 45 minutes carried over into the second, as neither team recorded a shot until Sho Haggerty put a drive off target in the 55th minute. The Spartans got closer to breaking the deadlock on a low effort from Caleb Borneo in the 59th, but Morris was in position to make the denial.
But, the pressure was mounting and it wouldn’t take much longer for the Blue & Gold to finally break through. Pressing Morris after the Terriers’ goalkeeper received a back pass, Torre forced a mishit of the ball and pounced on it, slotting home into an open net in the 66th minute to give UNCG a 1-0 lead.
Wofford finally found its footing shortly after, Wilson needing to make a third save just under a minute later to keep the Spartans ahead.
Hernandez found himself twice denied by Morris over a three-minute span from the 80th to the 83rd minute as the visitors returned to their attacking ways. The final 10 minutes saw both netminders produce stops, Haggerty finding himself denied by a brilliant stop that would’ve made it 2-0 in the 88th minute.
But the lead would hold regardless, UNCG returning to the SoCon Championship Game and now sitting one win away from a potential second consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
UNCG outshot Wofford 14-7, putting eight attempts on goal to just four for the Terriers. It’s the fourth game this season that the Spartans have put eight shots on target in a match, one away from tying the game against Dayton back on Sept. 5 for the most this year.
The Spartans continue to limit attempts on target themselves, with Sunday’s win being the seventh straight game of four or fewer allowed.
Wilson finished with four stops on the night and his sixth shutout of the year.
Hernandez and Haggerty were two of three players with three shots, which tied for most in the game; Hernandez put all three of his attempts on goal
Torre’s goal, his third this season, moves him with Haggerty and Malo Jungling into a three-way tie for third most. He is now on eight points (3G, 2A) for 2026.
UP NEXT
UNCG awaits the winner of the second match between No. 1 Furman and No. 5 Liberty, with the SoCon Championship Game set to be hosted by the highest remaining seed on either Friday, Nov. 13 or Saturday, Nov. 14.
Davis Fields
Strategic Communications Coordinator
UNC Greensboro