GREENEVILLE, TN - Telmo Dantes and Bruno Conceicao scored
first-half goals in a span of 1:59 and fifth-ranked Tusculum
College held off a furious rally by 21st-ranked Francis Marion
University to claim a 3-1 win, Friday night (Nov. 14) in the second
round of the NCAA Division II National Men's Soccer Tournament.
The loss snaps a 15-match unbeaten streak for Francis Marion,
the second-longest streak in team history, and ends the Patriots'
season at 14-5-3. Tusculum (19-2-1) advances to face
13th-ranked Lees-McRae College, a 2-1 winner over Limestone College
in Friday's first match, on Sunday at 2 p.m.
Francis Marion tried to duplicate Wednesday's rally from a
three-goal deficit to beat Caron-Newman 4-3 in overtime, but it was
not to be on Friday.
The goals by Dantes and Conceicao came in the 27th and 29th
minutes and staked Tusculum to a 2-0 halftime advantage. Anteneh
Lemma's header off a cross from Conceicao at the 47:38 mark upped
the margin to 3-0.
Conceicao also assisted on the Pioneers' first goal, in addition
to scoring his 23rd goal of the year.
Francis Marion trimmed the lead to 3-1 when senior Willie Hunt
deflected a corner kick to sophomore Julian Ramjohn who scored at
the 52:53 mark. It was Ramjohn's first tally of the year.
From that point on, FMU outshot the Pioneers 8-6, but Tusculum
goalkeeper Lance Moore came up with five saves to thwart any
possible Patriot comeback.
FMU sophomore goalkeeper Clark Richeson finished with four
saves, while Moore totaled eight stops for the match.
Francis Marion outshot Tusculum 15-14 and led 9-8 in
shots-on-goal, while the Pioneers held a 4-3 advantage in corner
kicks.
Ramjohn, a defender, led FMU with five shots, four of which were
on-goal.
Second-year FMU head coach Kevin Varnado now says good-bye to
only one senior - Hunt - while three of the team's top four scorers
were either freshmen or sophomores and the top scorer was a
junior.
"We had an amazing season and we got off to a slow start, but we
turned the season around. The result hurts tonight, but we played
very hard. We were still pushing, pushing, pushing all the way to
the end. It was very encouraging," said Vardano.
"This was a very good win. I was very impressed with Francis
Marion. They have a great young team. I thought we did a good job
in getting the third goal early (in the second half), and I thought
that was key. They were everything I expected them they would be,"
said Tusculum head coach Brett Teach.
Francis Marion was making its second-ever trip to the NCAA
Tournament. The Patriots advanced to the national quarterfinals of
the 2000 tournament.
#21 Francis Marion Univ. vs #5 Tusculum (Nov 14, 2008 at
Greeneville, Tenn.)
Francis Marion Univ. (14-5-3) vs. Tusculum (19-2-1)
Date: Nov 14, 2008 Attendance: 260
Weather: Clear and cool
Goals by period 1
2 Tot
-------------------------------
Francis Marion Univ. 0 1 - 1
Tusculum............ 2 1 - 3
SCORING SUMMARY:
1-0. 26:49 TC Telmo Dantes (2) (Bruno Conceicao;Scott
Lucky) - Through ball by Lucky, cross to Dantes,
2-0. 28:48 TC Bruno Conceicao (23) (Lucas Paulini) -
Lofted lead over Conceicao's shoulder, b
3-0. 47:38 TC Anteneh Lemma (14) (Bruno Conceicao) - Run
down the right flank, cross to Lemma
3-1. 52:53 FMU Ramjohn, Julian (1) (Hunt, Willie) - Corner
knocked around, slid under keeper
Shots: Francis Marion 15, Tusculum 14 ; Saves: Francis Marion 5
(Richeson, Clark 4; TEAM 1), Tusculum 8 (Lance Moore 8) ; NCAA II
Tournament second-round match
