Trojen men tie Cobras 1-1

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on October 16, 2008 1:46 PM

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MOUNT OLIVE -- Players removed their grass-stained, sweaty jerseys and listened as Mount Olive head men's soccer coach Jerry Riggs praised his youth-laden team for a hard effort.

But the 1-1 overtime tie against Coker (S.C.) College felt like a loss Wednesday evening.

The Trojans (8-4-2 overall) gained one point for the draw and missed punching their ticket to the season-ending Conference Carolinas tournament. Now, they must wait nine days for another chance to clinch a postseason bid when they visit Belmont Abbey on Oct. 25.

Mount Olive owned a 17-11 edge in shots and attempted eight corner kicks. Plenty of balls were played across the box, but the Trojans couldn't finish.

"When you have those many chances, you have to tuck them away," said Riggs. "This league ... everybody is fighting, battling, scrapping just to get into the tournament. We ruined our opportunities."

Coker (4-9-2, 1-5-1) continued its uphill climb in the conference standings. The Cobras lost their leading scorer Daniel Shrizad (five goals, one assist) early in the opening half to an ankle injury.

They played short-handed the final eight minutes of the second OT when defender Jason McCann drew his second yellow card of the night.

"I think the tide turned for Mount Olive at the end," said Coker head coach Robert Lane, who starred at Wilson Hunt High School. "They had the flow of play and we're fortunate to get out of here with a tie. At the same time, we're happy to pick up a point.

"The guys battled back in the second half, pulled even and gave us a chance in overtime."

The Trojans (2-3-2 CC) grabbed the lead in the first half. Barely two minutes after Anthony Payne and Sean Keener stepped onto the field in a substitute role, the duo broke the scoreless deadlock.

Senior midfielder P.J. Pugliese took the ball away from Coker's Dennis Gonzalez and zipped a one-touch pass to sophomore forward Chris McClaugherty. McClaugherty looked upfield and dumped the ball off to Payne, who made a great run on the right side just outside the 18 box.

Keener, marked closely by his defender on the left side, received the cross from Payne and tucked a one-strike shot into the lower corner at the far post. It was Keener's third goal of the season and Payne grabbed the team lead with six assists.

Coker hung around, however.

The Cobras benefited from defensive mistakes, controlled possession and kept Trojans goal keeper Chris Slaughter busy in the penalty area. Despite down a goal at halftime, Lane urged his team to continue executing its gameplan, which paid off in the 64th minute.

Junior defender Ben Beech picked up a loose ball outside the 18 near the Coker bench. As the Trojan defense spread out to protect the goal, Beech fired a pass into the box. Mike Crook tucked a one-footed strike into net between Slaughter and the near post.

"With them playing the long ball today, we thought there was a little gap in the middle of the field and we tried to switch the point of attack," said Lane. "We were able to spread them out, slide one through and it worked."

Mount Olive missed two goal-scoring chances in regulation and fended off two Coker opportunities in the second OT. Beech just missed converting a one-on-one situation against Slaughter in the final 60 seconds of the match.

"We nearly gave it away there," said Riggs.