The College of Charleston men's soccer team rallied from behind to take down defending Southern Conference champion Wofford at Patriots Point on Tuesday night. The Cougars surrendered the first half lead but equalized just before half and tacked on three in the second to get the 4-1 win.
The Cougars' win was their seventh consecutively and improves CofC to 7-2-1 (2-0 SoCon). Wofford drops to 1-5-2 (0-1 SoCon) with the loss.
The game was highly physical and the teams' emotions toward each other were evident as 28 fouls were whistled and four yellow cards issued.
Wofford struck first when Armin Kinigadner set up a free kick from the right side from 40 yards out. Kinigadner sent in an in-swinging ball which found the head of a streaking Wilson Hood who capitalized to the near post.
The Cougars riddled the Terriers' keeper with several shots but struggled to capitalize until the closing moments of the first half.
Wofford looked to take their 1-0 lead into the locker room until Jake Helmig (Myrtle Beach, S.C.) controlled the ball on the left wing and sent it into the box where Sean Flatley (Virginia Beach, Va.) headed in his second goal of the season to even the score in the 44th minute.
Flatley also netted what would become the game winner almost five minutes into the second half in a similar fashion, this time with Sean de Silva (Port of Spain, Trinidad) serving the entry pass from a corner kick.
Wofford's attempt to equalize was resilient and freshman keeper Kees Heemskerk (Zaandam, Holland) made five big saves to preserve the score.
The Cougars insured their lead when Ralphie Lundy (Mt. Pleasant, S.C.) threaded a brilliant ball through the top of the box to Kareem Yearwood (Sou Sou Lands, Tobago) who made a single touch before beating the keeper inside the left post.
Lundy set up a similar play in the 87th minute and put Andy Craven (St. Simon's Island, Ga.) in a threatening position but Craven was dragged down from behind in desperation by the Terriers' last line of defense. Lundy was rewarded for his efforts when he bent the ensuing 19-yard free kick around the Wofford wall of defenders and perfectly into the upper-right corner of the net to put CofC up 4-1.
"We started playing better in the second half," said head coach Lundy. "We started passing and getting the ball to the open player. I was very happy with the way we attacked, unlike the early part of the game when we just kicked the ball and we didn't play our style of soccer. It was a good, tough game."
The Cougars look to stretch their unbeaten streak to nine with a road contest at Elon on Saturday, Oct. 9. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m. The two squads will compete for the top spot in the SoCon as both bring 2-0 conference records into the match.