Caston, Carroll spark Mount Olive in opener

Published in Sports on August 28, 2005 2:12 AM

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MOUNT OLIVE -- Adam Caston and Bradley Carroll scored two goals apiece and Matt Hobbs added a goal and two assists as Mount Olive defeated Chowan 9-0 in the first match of the Mount Olive College Men's Soccer Invitational Saturday at Trojan Field.

Cason Cherry and Brian Fitzmaurice added two assists apiece.

In the second match of the tournament, sponsored by Sleep Inn, Carlos Lozano's goal on a direct kick with less than a minute left in the first half proved to be the game-winner as Lander defeated St. Andrews 3-2. All of the goals were scored in the first half.

In the first match, Mount Olive (1-0-0) got on the scoreboard in the fifth minute when Michael Garrett's service from just outside the box deflected off the Chowan goalkeeper and Caston captured the ball in front of an open net. The score remained 1-0 until the 29th minute when Hobbs served Woody Stilley from midfield and Stilley outran the defense for the goal.

Hobbs and Stilley had just entered the game shortly before the goal and both players said watching how the game was developing from the bench helped them when they got on the field.

"Brad (Carroll) and I saw some runs we could make and when we got into the game, we were able to make those runs," said Stilley, a sophomore from Bear Creek.

"The midfielders needed to find the forwards' feet and once we started doing that, we started settling in and feeling more relaxed," said Hobbs, a sophomore from Swansboro.

"Stilley and Hobbs really picked us and got some chances for us," said fourth-year head coach Jerry Riggs.

Carroll gave the Trojans a 3-0 halftime lead on a breakaway goal off an assist from midfield by Erik Small with 30 seconds left in the half. Hobbs added a goal two minutes into the second half and assisted on Reid Clewis' breakaway goal in the 49th minute to give Mount Olive a 5-0 lead. The Trojans scored three goals in a span of four minutes.

"Brad's goal was huge, giving us a three-goal lead and giving us momentum coming out of the half," said Riggs. "The bench really sparked us today."

The bench accounted for six of the Trojans' nine goals.

Mount Olive scored another three goals in a span of just over two minutes beginning in the 68th minute. Freshmen Bobby Allen and P.J. Pugliese both scored their first collegiate goals, while Caston added his second goal of the match. Carroll closed out the scoring in the 87th minute on a direct kick.

Chowan (0-1-0) mounted several attacks late in the second half, but Mount Olive held the Braves without a shot. The Trojans finished with 30 shots. The Chowan goalkeeper recorded four saves.

Saturday's win was a contrast to last year's 2-2 tie at Chowan.

"This win was a good confidence booster," said Hobbs. "We were able to finish a lot of plays and hopefully we can stay in a goal-scoring mentality."

"It feels good to get that first match in and get a good win," said Stilley. "Our defense played very well today."

In the nightcap, Lander (1-0-0) took a 1-0 lead in the 13th minute when Luke Ibbetson scored off an assist by Jack Thompson. St. Andrews (0-1-0) tied the match in the 32nd minute on Kristian Mikoczi's penalty kick.

Lander regained the lead at the 35:14 mark when Thompson scored from the top left of the box on an assist by Carlos Lozano. But St. Andrews answered 31 seconds later on Jerry Momoh's acrobatic one-touch off a deflection from 12 yards out to tie the match 2-2.

Lander took the lead for good when St. Andrews was called for a foul late in the first half and Lozano scored on a direct kick from the top right of the box with 53 seconds left before halftime. Neither team was able to score in the second half, but St. Andrews had a chance to tie the match when Lander was called for a foul deep in its own zone with 22 seconds remaining in the contest, but the Bearcats were able to clear the ball out and time expired before St. Andrews could launch another attack.

The tournament continues Sunday as Mount Olive takes on Lander at 3:30 p.m. Mount Olive and Lander were part of a three-way tie at No. 4 in last season's final Southeast Region rankings. Chowan opens play Sunday at 1 p.m. against St. Andrews.

Riggs says the Trojans' showing Saturday was a good way to start the season and he looks forward to Sunday's contest against Lander.

"It's always good to get that first game under your belt," said Riggs. "I think we were a little anxious at first, but we settled down. We wanted a good showing to build some confidence and now we need to prepare for a very good Lander team. Tomorrow should be a very good game."