Luke Wilson and Harry Mason both scored in the final 10 minutes, with Eric Clark assisting on both goals, and Cumberland outlasted Freed-Hardeman, 4-2, in men’s soccer action Tuesday at the CU Soccer Field.
The match was called with 1:09 remaining in the second half after a near brawl broke out with both benches clearing and University officials and campus police along with game officials stepping in to calm flairing tempers. Seven yellow cards were handed out in the match, including two each to Clark and FHU’s Hobe Watkins. Watkins earned his disqualification after entering the match in the final 10 minutes and his final foul started the raucous that ended the match.
With the victory Cumberland (8-6-2, 3-3-1) will host Union University in the quarterfinals of the TranSouth Championships this Saturday at a time to be determined.
Wilson’s first goal of the season came after Clark earned a free kick after a foul near the right endline, just outside the box. Clark chipped the ball over a two-man wall to the center of the box, maybe 10 yards from net, and Bradley Williams headed it forward. Wilson raced to the ball, hammering it into the back of the net for the lead in the 82nd minute.
Mason’s 16th goal of the season put the match away less than three minutes later, with Robert Als sliding the ball outside the Clark, who found Mason in the center of the box. His shot went past three defenders and the keeper on its way into the net for a 4-2 advantage.
Things got even chippier than after Mason’s goal, with Clark and Watkins tackling each other near the opposite sideline from the bench. On a long, high ball played from the FHU defense, Watkins crashed into two Cumberland players, drawing his second yellow in a matter of minutes and starting a pushing-and-shoving match among several players.
Things escalated and after several moments of trepidation, the center official ended the match with 1:09 remaining.
In the first half the Lions (8-7-1, 1-5-1) got on the board first after an illegal touch on CU keeper Matthew Shattuck, who was called for a back pass. Simbarashe Zvaita touched the free kick to Philipp Baier and he drilled a low shot off the hands of a diving Shattuck for a 1-0 FHU advantage in the 24th minute.
It stayed that way until just before the half when Robert Boyd beat FHU goalie Alexandre Girodo to a long ball from Wilson. Boyd chipped the ball past Girodo, took his time and found the top left corner from a terrible angle for Boyd’s fifth goal of the year, tying the match in the 44th minute.
Clark’s shot from 35 yards hit the crossbar and Boyd picked up the rebound, volleying the bouncing ball into the net for his second goal and a 2-1 CU edge in the 58th minute. But a defensive mistake by the Bulldogs allowed FHU to tie the match.
Zvaita scored unassisted in the 68th minute, taking a redirected ball near the top of the Cumberland box and beating a defenseless Shattuck.
Shattuck finished the match with four saves and Girodo had three. The teams combined for 31 fouls as well as the seven cards but each took 15 shots.