Delaware, JMU Advance In MSOC #CAAChamps

11/7/2015 9:33:04 PM

Rob Washburn

Third-seeded Delaware defeated #6 UNCW, 3-1, and #5 James Madison knocked off #4 College of Charleston, 3-2, in the quarterfinals of the CAA Men's Soccer Championship on Saturday night. The Blue Hens advance to play #2 Elon at 4:30 p.m. on Friday, followed by the Dukes against #1 Hofstra at 7 p.m. in the tournament semifinals at Hofstra Soccer Stadium in Hempstead, N.Y. The CAA championship game is set for 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, November 15 and will be televised live by the American Sports Network.

James Madison 3, College of Charleston 2

Boxscore

CHARLESTON, S.C. – Strong play on both ends of the field led fifth-seeded James Madison to a 3-2 victory over No. 4 College of Charleston in the Colonial Athletic Association Men's Soccer quarterfinals on Saturday night at Patriots Point.

The Dukes improved to 5-9-4 on the year after opening up a 3-0 lead while the comeback attempt for the Cougars came a goal short as the hosts ended their season with a 7-8-2 overall record.

Redshirt junior midfielder Tom Fouhy opened the scoring in the 14th minute. A JMU cross from the right side of the field was deflected by a Charleston defender, but the rebound was chested down by Fouhy and he struck on the volley past the diving goalkeeper and into the bottom, right corner of the net to take the lead.

Although the Dukes controlled the game in the first half, the Cougars came on strong in the second half and ultimately doubled JMU's shot production at 18-9. Redshirt junior goalkeeper Kyle Morton came up big with seven saves to hold on to the lead.

On the counter attack following a CofC turnover in the 39th minute, sophomore midfielder Joe Vyner made a strong run and found freshman forward Aaron Ward-Baptiste alone in the box where he calmly finished to double the Dukes' lead to 2-0. Redshirt sophomore defender Toby Appleton then added an insurance goal in the 52nd minute with a low, left-footed strike from just outside the 18-yard box.

Leland Archer broke the scoring draught for the Cougars in the 74^th minute on an assist from junior Nico Rittmeyer. Archer is now tied with Nico Rittmeyer for the most goals on the season with four. CofC struck again in the 84^th minute on a free kick from Nicolas Jeausseran to bring the game to 3-2 with five minutes remaining.

James Madison advances to the CAA Championship semifinals next week where it will face top-seeded Hofstra on Friday, Nov. 13 at 7 p.m. in Hempstead, N.Y. Last season, the Dukes, who were the No. 6 seed, knocked off the top three seeds en route to winning the the CAA tournament title and a berth in the NCAA Championship.

Delaware 3, UNCW 1

BOXSCORE

NEWARK, Del. -- The University of Delaware men’s soccer team is headed back to the Colonial Athletic Association semifinals.

Thanks to two goals from All-American Guillermo Delgado, two assists from Thomas de Villardi, and the first career goal from Soren Frost, the No. 3 seed Blue Hens extended their unbeaten string to seven games with a 3-1 victory over No. 6 seed UNCW Saturday evening in the CAA quarterfinals at Stuart & Suzanne Grant Stadium.

Delaware (10-6-3) broke away from a 1-1 halftime lead with a big second half and now moves on to the CAA semifinals where the Hens will take on No. 2 seed Elon this Friday, Nov. 13 at Hofstra University in Hempstead, N.Y. Top seed Hofstra will host No. 5 seed James Madison at 7 p.m. JMU, the defending champion, was a 3-2 winner over College of Charleston Saturday night.

The Blue Hens, who won the CAA?title in 2011, return to the CAA?semifinals for the third straight year and for the fifth time in the last six seasons.

The Hens, the CAA preseason favorite, have now outscored their opponents 21-7 in going 6-0-1 since an Oct. 10 loss at Hofstra. UNCW (8-8-3) finished its season with four straight losses since a 1-1 tie with Delaware back on Oct. 25 at Grant Stadium.

Delgado upped his season goal total to 10 and his career sum to 37 to move into second place on the all-time Delaware scoring list past John McCloskey (1975-78). He scored 13:24 into the match to give the Hens a 1-0 lead and gave UD?some insurance with his second tally with 19:12 left to play.

Delgado scored his first goal from eight yards out off assists from Nick DiRienzo and de Villardi but UNCW tied the game on a goal by Brayden Smith with 9:01 left in the opening half to send the game into halftime tied 1-1. Smith scored from two yards out after a scramble in front of the net following a corner kick.

The second half belonged to the Hens as Delaware took the lead for good at 2-1 when Frost, a freshman, scored his first career goal from four yards out after a scramble in front of the net off a corner kick just 11 minutes into the stanza. Ben Sampson and de Villardi were responsible for the assists.

Delaware then put the game away with 19:12 remaining when Robert Gillin won the ball in the backfield and passed ahead to de Villardi who found Laguna racing up the middle. Laguna made a move and passed to Delgado to his left. The junior then finished from 12 yards out, knocking the ball off UNCW?goalkeeper Todd Melvin and into the far right corner of the net.