Sophomore Yannick Pilgrim’s late second-half goal was all the Davidson men’s soccer team needed on their way to a crucial 1-0 Southern Conference victory over Wofford Wednesday night at Snyder field.
“Wofford is a good defending team,” said Davidson head coach Matt Spear. “It was tough to break them down, but Yannick made the big play that this team needed to pick up a great road win.”
The Wildcats were able to control the time of possession in the first half, keeping the ball on the offensive attack for throughout the opening period, using a mix of counter attacks and set plays on their way to six shots, three of which were on goal, including one by junior Charlie Reiter from just outside the penalty box that snuck along the ground and went just wide of the net.
Reiter had another quality scoring chance in the 52nd minute of the second half, when he took a free kick from 20 yards out that sailed just over the crossbar and out of bounds.
At the 66:49 mark, Robby Goldsberry kept the Terriers off the board when he stonewalled a Wofford shot from 12 yards out that was fired low and was stopped by a diving Goldsberry. He then secured the win in the final ten seconds, in which he faced three shots and made three rapid-fire saves.
Pilgrim almost tacked on another goal in the 82nd minute when he took a pass from Reiter and ran past the defense where he took a shot from the right side of the box that crossed the goal mouth before just sneaking wide of the net.
Alex Caskey led all Wildcat players with three shots on the night, with Reiter, Pilgrim, Whitey Bolan, and Clinton Smith each recording a pair of scoring chances, and Macnamara taking one of the team’s 12 total shots. Goldsberry ended the night with four saves on the way to his first shut out of the season.
With the win, the ‘Cats pick up their first road win of the season and improve to 4-12-1 overall, and garner their second SoCon win to head into their regular-season finale with a 2-4 conference mark. Wofford drops to 5-11 and 1-5 in the SoCon.
Davidson will round out their regular season this Saturday, Nov. 1 when they host Georgia Southern on Senior Day. Prior to the 1 p.m. kickoff, the three Wildcat seniors, Bolan, Cameron Griffin, and Juan Duque, will be honored for their contributions to the program during their four years in the red and black.