Elon 4, Lipscomb 2

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Chris Thomas and Daniel Lovitz each scored a pair of goals to help the Elon men’s soccer team close out the Hyatt Place Select Invitational at Lipscomb with a 4-2 victory over Belmont on Sunday.

Elon improved to 3-1 with the win, while Belmont fell to 1-4-1 with the loss.

Thomas put the Maroon and Gold ahead 1-0 in the 14th minute after Matt Wescoe found the senior forward in the center of the field from 15 yards out for the goal.

Thomas helped Elon out to a 2-0 advantage in the 28th minute when he headed in a Lovitz cross for his fourth goal of the tournament and sixth of the season.

Belmont made it a one-goal game in the 36th minute when Tyler Vieth picked up a loose ball along the left side and struck it into the back of the net to limit the Phoenix to a 2-1 lead.

Both squads took a total of four shots in the opening frame, as Elon put three on-target to Belmont’s one shot on goal. The Phoenix held a 3-1 edge in corners in the first 45 minutes.

Elon took a 3-1 lead in the 66th minute after a Bruins foul in the box led to an Elon penalty kick for Lovitz. Lovitz blasted the shot behind Belmont goalie Lou Manning for the score, his second of the season. However, the Bruins answered with a goal 90 seconds later to pull within one, 3-2.

Lovitz struck again to give Elon a two-goal edge in the 73rd minute when he dribbled past a Belmont defender on the left side for an open look at the net for the score, giving the Phoenix a 4-2 lead. The Maroon and Gold held off the Bruins for the next 17 minutes to secure the victory, its third straight.

The Bruins ended the match with a 13-7 advantage in shots, but both squads took a total of six shots on goal.

Elon’s next match is scheduled for Friday when it heads to Conway, S.C., to face No. 19 Coastal Carolina. The two teams last met in the first round of last year’s NCAA Tournament.

Wofford 2, Florida Atlantic 1

CONWAY, S.C. – The Wofford men’s soccer team went 2-0 in the Coastal Carolina Invitational with a 2-1 victory over Florida Atlantic on Sunday. Nestor Jaramillo and Alex Hutchins both scored for the Terriers.

Wofford improved to 3-2-0 on the season. Florida Atlantic fell to 1-4-0.

Jaramillo gave Wofford a 1-0 lead in the 28th minute, beating Florida Atlantic keeper Scott Powers on a free kick from 21 yards out with a shot to the left post.

Wofford would extend its lead less than five minutes later when Billy Padula and Carlos Dominguez Gonzalez assisted on Hutchins’ third goal of the season. Dominguez Gonzalez headed Padula’s long throw-in to Hutchins, who was able to beat Powers from six yards out.

Wofford dominated the first half as it took a 2-0 lead to the break. The Terriers held the edge in shots (8-2) and corners (2-0) over the Owls.

The second half was much more balanced as both teams tallied four shots and two corners. FAU cut the Terrier lead to one in the 75th minute when Karol Chorak took a pass from Sean Grossman and scored past Terrier keeper Andrew Drennan.

Chorak was able to beat Drennan with a shot from 16 yards out to the far post. The Terrier defense would not give the Owls another chance as they held on to secure the 2-1 win.

Drennan earned the win for the Terriers and improved to 3-2 on the year. He allowed one goal and recorded one save on six shots faced. Powers took the loss for the Owls and fell to 0-1 on the year. He allowed two goals and made five saves on 12 shots.

The Terriers travel to Syracuse, N.Y., next weekend to face Colgate University Friday and Cornell University on Sunday.

Furman 2, Memphis 2 (2OT)

GREENVILLE, S.C. – No. 23 Furman rallied from a 2-0 deficit in the second half to earn a 2-2 draw with Memphis and claim the championship of the 2012 Diadora/Spinx Gray Griffin Memorial Tournament at Stone Soccer Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

Trailing 2-0 in the 59th minute, Furman earned a penalty kick when freshman Tony Santibanez was taken down by Memphis’ Adam Camillo inside the 18-yard box. Martin Ontiveros stepped up to drill the spot kick into the center of the net at 58:08 to cut the margin to 2-1 on his fourth goal of the campaign.

Furman (4-1-1) turned up the pressure on the Tigers and pulled even in the 69th minute as sophomore Walker Zimmerman connected on a header that floated over the Memphis keeper and under the cross bar off of Ontiveros’ free kick at 68:20.

Both teams created several chances for a match-winning tally in regulation, including a ringing shot off of the cross bar from Furman’s Chris Duggan in the final minutes, before the contest headed to overtime. The Tigers’ Mark Sherrod produced the best chance in the opening 10-minute period with a back post header that Furman’s Doug Ryan dove to keep out of the net in the 93rd minute. Furman’s Alex Crooks turned in a shot on goal in the opening three minutes of the second extra period, but the neither team was able to break the deadlock.

Memphis (1-2-1) started the match quickly by grabbing the lead at the 2:31 mark when Quincy Thomas ran onto a failed clearance and hammered a shot to the far corner for his first goal of the season. Chandler Gagnon doubled the Tiger lead at 53:32 after Thomas sent a cross through the box that Lewis Ellis headed into the path of Gagnon at the left post.

In the opening match of the day, UNCW claimed a 2-0 victory over College of Charleston on goals from Jack Ward and Nathaniel Goodwin.

Furman returns to action next weekend at the FGCU - Courtyard by Marriott Classic in Fort Myers, Fla. The Paladins face FIU at 5 p.m. on Friday before battling host Florida Gulf Coast at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday.

2012 Gray Griffin Memorial All-Tournament Team: Walker Zimmerman (MVP), Furman; Martin Ontiveros, Furman; Coleton Henning, Furman; Tony Santibanez, Furman; Michael Parrish, UNCW; Jamie Dell, UNCW; Jacob VanCompernolle, UNCW; Daan Brinkman, CofC; Shawn Ferguson, CofC; Liam Collins, Memphis; Mark Sherrod, Memphis.

UNCW 2, College of Charleston 0

GREENVILLE, S.C. – The College of Charleston men’s soccer team fell 2-0 to UNCW in its final game of the Diadora/Spinx Gray Griffin Memorial Tournament hosted by Furman on Sunday afternoon.

The Cougars outshot the Seahawks, 14-12, behind 11 shots in the second half. Sean de Silva paced the Cougars with six attempts.

UNCW’s Jack Ward scored on a failed Cougar clearance in the 19th minute, ripping a one-touch shot from inside 10 yards.

The rest of the first half was contained mostly in the central third of the field with the teams each managing just one shot apiece.

The Seahawks padded their lead in the 65th minute when Jose Garcia bent a free kick into the box and Nathaniel Goodwin headed it inside the near post to push the score to 2-0.

The Cougars pushed forward in attempt to get the goal back but were ultimately thwarted and kept off the score sheet. CofC controlled the last minutes of the match and took the final five shots of the match, but to no avail.

CofC's Daan Brinkman and Shawn Ferguson earned spots on the all-tournamen team.

The Cougars stay on the road next week with a trip to New Jersey for a pair of matches against quality opponents in Rutgers and Monmouth. The Cougars play at Rutgers on Friday at 5:30 p.m. and at Monmouth on Sunday at 1 p.m.