The College of Charleston men's soccer team closed out its perfect weekend with a 3-0 victory over Lehigh to win the 10th annual Nike / Aaron Olitsky Memorial Classic at Patriots Point.
"First of all, they beat us 3-2 at Lehigh last year, so I loved that we could come back and win the next year," said head coach Ralph Lundy. "It was pretty hot and humid today which were good conditions for us. We wore them down and took advantage of it. I'm happy to get this W and happy to win the Aaron Olitsky Memorial Tournament."
"We played attractive attacking soccer like we did on Friday night, so there's a trend going here."
The Cougars got on the board just before halftime and netted two insurance goals in the second half to gain the win.
Kees Heemskerk (Zaandam, Holland) played the full ninety minutes and made two saves en route to the shutout win. Heemskerk was also spotless in the Friday-night matchup with Bucknell and didn't allow a goal in the tournament.
The Cougars spent a vast majority of the first half on the offensive side of the field and had a 12-2 first-half shot advantage. They finally capitalized in the 43rd minute when Justin Fojo (Port of Spain, Trinidad) fed a ball into Sean De Silva (Port of Spain, Trinidad) at the top of the box. De Silva ripped a shot through traffic from 20 yards out that left the keeper no chance and found the back of the net.
"It was a nice team effort, but Sean de Silva's goal right before the half kind of broke their backs," said Lundy. (Justin) Fojo played him a wonderful quick pass and Sean put it right on the money. That takes clutch performance for a guy to produce when it's right there and he did it. He's been doing it and he's just a sensational young player."
De Silva struck for the second time six minutes into the second half when he fired a shot from the top of the box at Lehigh keeper Jonathan Nydell. Nydell got a good piece of the shot, but the ball slipped through his legs and crept over the goal line.
The Cougars added an insurance goal off of one of their nine corner-kick opportunities in the 69th minute. Ralph Lundy, III (Mt. Pleasant, S.C.) sent a strong, left-footed boot into the box where Jake Helmig (Myrtle Beach, S.C.) headed it home from the top of the six-yard box.
After the tournament, De Silva, Shawn Ferguson (Rock Hill, S.C.), Francis Twohig (St. Simon's Island, Ga.) and Sean Bateau (Chapin, S.C.) were named to the eleven-man all-tournament team. Fojo was named the Hertz, McKay Magel Most Valuable Player.
"Fojo was a leader all weekend and has been such a strong senior captain," said Lundy.
The Cougars will travel to Winston-Salem, N.C. to face No. 14 Wake Forest on Tuesday, Sept. 21. CofC has the hopes of extending its win streak to four matches.
"I'm happy with how my team is playing," said Lundy. "We will go to Wake Forest and that's going to be a wonderful challenge for us. That's what we want. We want to play the best teams in the country.
All-Tournament Team
Sean De Silva - CofC
Shawn Ferguson - CofC
Francis Twohig - CofC
Sean Bateau - CofC
James Meyerkord - Lehigh
Austin Decker - Lehigh
James Graf - Lehigh
Nicky MacKain - Furman
Jacob Brown - Furman
Ross Liberati - Bucknell
Travis Rand - Bucknell
Hertz, McKay Magel MVP Award:
Justin Fojo - CofC