UNC-Pembroke makes rare opportunity count

By Nathan Walls
Editor

Hosting their first Peach Belt Conference men's soccer tournament game since
1998, No. 2 seed UNCP throttled No. 7 seed USC-Aiken 8-0 last night
at the Irwin Belk Athletic Complex.

The game, the second meeting between the two teams in the last five days,
was more dominant for UNCP than the previous one, which saw the Braves
down the winless Pacers 2-1 in double overtime.

"The biggest thing we did differently, we put away a couple of chances in
the first half and they had to come out and play," UNCP head coach Mike
Schaeffer said.

Ahmet Yenisen's goal in the 29th minute kicked things off for the Braves and
started a nightmare for USC-Aiken goalie Peter Calabrese.

Thomas Lindal made it 2-0 in the 35th minute, when he sailed a shot over
Calabrese's left side from 25 yards away. Barrat Killian and Yenisen were
both credited with assists on the play.

Sascha Gorres slammed the door on the Pacers with two early goals in the
second half, one coming in the 49th minute and another less than two minutes
later, making the count 4-0. Gorres assisted Christian Kucklick for the
team's fifth score.

"Sascha is an unbelievable player," Schaeffer said. "When he gets on his
game, he's tremendous."

Evan Saleeby, Trond Myrland and John Cooper capped off the scoring barrage
for the Braves.

Schaeffer cleared his bench around the 70th minute mark, giving his starters
an early chance to rest up for Saturday's semifinal game against No. 3 seed
Lander.

"We've got two matches this weekend hopefully and if we're fortunate to get
into the NCAAs, we're going to have games that come tight together,"
Schaeffer said. "It's good to be able to get them out and get them rested a little
bit."

The win pushed UNC-Pembroke's record to 16-1 and ended USC-Aiken's season at
0-11.

If UNC-Pembroke, ranked ninth in the latest NCAA Division II poll, tops
Lander, they may square off again with USC-Spartanburg, the nation's fourth
ranked team.

Spartanburg, the Peach Belt Conference regular season champion, defeated the
Braves 2-1 in overtime on Sunday, Oct. 12.

Goals by period 1 - 2
UNC-Pembroke.... 6 - 8
USC-Aiken......... 0 - 0