Box Score
Greenwood, S.C.----Wingate University junior midfielder
Adam Cunningham (Gastonia, N.C.) scored with 2:30 left in the match to give the visiting Bulldogs the 2-1 NCAA regional men’s soccer victory over Lander University Wednesday night. Cunningham scored from 15 feet out, picking up his first goal of the season.
Both teams are ranked in the NCAA Division II Southeast Regional men’s soccer top 10 poll. Number four Wingate improves to 4-1 overall with the victory. Number 10 Lander falls to 3-3 overall.
Lander had tied the contest in the 39th minute when junior defender
Alex Pethick (Swindon, England) found the back of the nets on a corner kick assist from senior midfielder
Samy Beydoun (York, England). Pethick’s first goal of the season came from approximately 20 yards out on the right side.
Wingate’s
ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America® candidate
Junior Nyemb (Douala, Cameroon) had already hit the crossbar and the post on separate first half shots before finding pay dirt in the 30th minute. The senior forward tallied the visitors’ first goal on a header, thanks to a corner kick from sophomore midfielder
Felippe Imperatriz (Sao Paulo, Brazil). Wingate led 1-0 at intermission.
Both teams had close calls in the second half. Wingate junior forward
Rory Green (Nottingham, England) hit the crossbar with a shot. The Bearcats also had scoring opportunities, but booted several shots high or wide.
Wingate outshot the LU Bearcats 15-6. Bulldog junior goalkeeper
Joey Calandra (Mount Pleasant, S.C.) earned the victory with two saves. Lander sophomore netminder
Matthew Atkinson (Durham, England) notched five saves. Both keepers went the distance.
Wingate opens South Atlantic Conference play Saturday night, hosting Tusculum College for a 7 p.m. match. The WU-TC contest is a rematch of the 2008 Food Lion SAC tournament championship tilt. Lander starts Peach Belt Conference play Saturday afternoon, venturing to North Georgia College & State University for a 3:30 p.m. match.
(Special thanks to Lander University assistant athletic director for sports media Bob Stoner for contributing information to this article.)
