ATHENS, W.Va- The Concord University men's soccer team earned its sixth victory of the season on senior day at Anderson Field after defeating Shippensburg University 1-0 Monday afternoon.
Concord improves to 6-8 on the season, while Shippensburg falls to 5-10 on the year.
Shippensburg started the game on the front foot after earning two corner kicks and having two shots blocked by the Concord defense in the first five minutes of the game.
However, Concord freshman midfielder
Yacouba Issa Traore provided the first test of the afternoon for either goalkeeper as his shot was saved by Shippensburg goalkeeper Evan Raimist.
The Mountain Lions continued to pressure the Raiders over the first half, as Traore's header at the 20:36 mark went wide over the goal. Freshman forward
Sam Ashton forced a save from Raimist in the 42
nd minute, and Traore forced a diving save from Raimist off of another header just one minute before halftime.
Shippensburg came closest to scoring in the 43
rd minute as Cole Kropnick rattled the crossbar with a knuckling shot from about 20 yards out.
The second half saw the Mountain Lions attempt several more shots on target. Senior defender
Jared Garlow flicked a header back over his head that forced Raimist to tip the shot over the bar, while Traore fired yet another header that was saved by the Shippensburg goalkeeper.
The Raiders forced freshman goalkeeper
James Sinclair into a low save in the 74
th minute to preserve the shutout.
Neither team could score in regulation.
After the first overtime went by without any shots for either team, Concord broke through after Ashton found space from a throw in from Garlow that bounced through the box.
Ashton turned and fired a hard shot that slammed off of the crossbar and straight down just in front of the goal line. Junior midfielder
Alex Rhodes reacted quickly and followed the shot with a header to end the game in the 105
th minute.
The goal was Rhodes first goal of the season and his third career tally in the Maroon and Gray.
CU outshot the Raiders 15-8 and had a 6-2 advantage in shots on goal. Sinclair made two saves in net for the Mountain Lions.
With win number six, it ties the highest amount of wins the program has accumulated since the reinstatement of the men's soccer program in 2008. Concord went 6-11-1 in 2009.
The Mountain Lions return to the pitch on Wednesday when they travel to Bluefield, West Virginia for a non-conference matchup against Bluefield College. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
