The College of Charleston men’s soccer team breaks from Southern Conference play with a banner match against Wake Forest to be presented by Roper St. Francis on the FOX Soccer Channel on Tuesday, Oct. 11 at Patriots Point.
“Wake Forest is a great program and this is going to be a great match at Patriots Point,” said head coach Ralph Lundy. “Last year we beat them 1-0 at Wake Forest which was a great game and a great win. The quality in the ACC from top to bottom is tremendous. Every team has great players. Wake will present a tremendous challenge. They’re having an okay season with an extremely tough schedule which is exactly what we’re doing.”
The Cougars enter the match with a 5-4-2 record after going 0-1-1 against two ranked teams last week. CofC was edged by No. 30 Coastal Carolina by a 2-3 count on Wednesday night and drew with No. 33 Furman on Saturday night. The Cougars led twice but Furman had an answer both times to force an ultimately scoreless overtime.
Eric Fornell (Daniel Island, S.C.) scored his first collegiate goal when he volleyed in a precise cross by Sean de Silva (Port of Spain, Trinidad) and Ralphie Lundy (Mt. Pleasant, S.C.) capitalized on 19-yard free kick with one of he left footers which he bent around the defensive wall back into the right-side netting.
“Both games last week were of quality and we played real well,” said Lundy. “I was especially happy with Saturday night against Furman. It was our best first half we’ve played all season without a doubt. In the second they stepped it up and put us under a lot of pressure. We really should have taken the game in overtime but we still played well. We need to do a little more in order to get the win… a little more being to shut them out.
“The two games for us last week were a great step and we have learned and grown. We’ve had great practices already this week which is wonderful. I feel good about the Cougars.”
At 2.33 goals per game, the Cougars were tied for 12th in the nation as of the NCAA’s last statistical rankings release. To do so, the Cougars have utilized a team-oriented offense with a SoCon-best 27 assists and 11 different Cougars registering goals.
The Demon Deacons, with a 5-5-1 record on the year, had strung together a three-game winning streak before they dropped their last contest to No. 16 Boston College by a 2-0 count on Friday, Oct. 7.
Wake Forest averages exactly a goal per game having found the net eleven times in their eleven-game season. Ben Newman leads the offense with eight points on three goals and two assists.
Last season, the Cougars went to Winston-Salem, N.C., and handed then-ranked No. 19 Wake Forest a 1-0 loss to earn Lundy his 400th head coaching victory. Francis Twohig’s (St. Simon’s Island, Ga.) 61st-minute goal was the only mark and solid defense allowed the Cougars to come away with the victory.
The Cougars continue against Atlantic Coast Conference teams when they travel to Chapel Hill, N.C., for a bout against No. 4 North Carolina on Friday, Oct. 14.