Courtesy of Newberry College Athletics
NEWBERRY — Men’s soccer kicked off the South Atlantic Conference matchup against the visiting Railsplitters from Lincoln Memorial at Smith Road Complex in a battle of teams looking to get in the win column.
The Wolves dropped their last match on the road to Limestone, and the Railsplitters dropped their last matchup against Shaw. Coach Justin Cook looked to lead his team to a victory today, also needing a result to gain some ground in conference play.
The Wolves looked to get ugly on the attack as within the first 10 minutes of the match, three shots by Newberry threatened the LMU goalkeeper. The Railsplitters settled into the match as three shots from LMU threatened senior goalkeeper Pablo Cubas (Playa del Hombre, Spain), forcing a save for one of the shots.
The first half for the Wolves went quietly, outside of the first ten minutes, as LMU was able to limit the Wolves to a single shot by junior Uriel Zarracan (Bluffton) in the latter 35 minutes. The same would be said for the Wolves as well, as good goalkeeping from Cubas and the defense frustrated the Railsplitters. It took this match into the second half, tied at 0.
Kicking off the second half, the Wolves looked to gain the upper hand early as a shot by sophomore Henok Awoke (Marietta, Ga.) went wide for him in less than a minute into the second half.
The Railsplitters answered the call by going on the attack themselves, putting up three shots in the next 10 minutes to look for the opening goal in the second half. Unfortunately, for Lincoln Memorial, that goal was scored by sophomore Ferran Macian (Valencia, Spain) as he cut across the box to finish it with a right foot and put the Wolves up one.
Drama ensued in the match as a penalty awarded to Lincoln Memorial set up a one-on-one between Cubas and the penalty taker for the Railsplitters. This was not the first time the goalkeeper from Playa del Hombre, Spain, faced a penalty as he saved a penalty in the previous matchup against Catawba, and the result were the same for Cubas as he saved the penalty and preserve the lead for the Wolves.
Sensing the match getting away from them, the Railsplitters increased the offensive effort in search of the tying goal. It was to no avail as the defense for the Wolves held strong and stellar goalkeeping play preserved the lead and victory for the Wolves.
The win moves the Wolves to three wins on the year, two wins in conference play, and the first home win of the season and Coach Justin Cook era here at Newberry.