Greenville, S.C. – Vincent Bennage's second goal of the game with 52 seconds remaining sent the Davidson Wildcats to a 2-1 win over the Furman men's soccer team in the Gray Griffin Memorial Match, Wednesday evening at Stone Stadium.
The Paladins fall to 1-4 on the season while Davidson improves to 4-1 overall.
Olivier Merlin-Zhang set the up game-winning goal by intercepting the ball from Furman on its side of the field. Merlin-Zhang gained possession and made a quick through pass to Bennage, who took two dribbles and scored inside the left post from 18 yards away.
After playing to a scoreless draw at halftime, Bennage got the Wildcats on the scoreboard first in the 54
th minute off the assist from Henry Howell. Howell beat a Furman defender near the Davidson bench and dribbled just inside the 18-yard box near side. He made a pass back to the middle of the box to an open Bennage allowing him to score on the one-timer left side.
Jake Raine equalized the game for the Paladins at 1-1 shortly thereafter in the 59
th minute for his second goal of the season.
Ivan Agyaakwah intercepted a Wildcat pass at midfield and immediately distributed the ball to
Conor Dowler. Dowler made a quick pass to
Sebastian Serpa in front of the Furman bench and sent a long pass over the Davidson defense inside the 18-yard box. Raine beat two Wildcat defenders, and goalie Giacomo Piccardo, with a header 13 yards away and scored right side. The assist by Serpa was his first of the season.
Raine and
Miles Fenton led the Paladins with five shots and three attempts on goal apiece.
Ben Roberts registered a season-high six saves in goal.
Howell attempted a game-high eight shots for Davidson including four going on goal. Piccardo also made six saves.
The Wildcats held a 20-13 advantage in shots and 8-7 in attempts on goal. Davidson led 8-5 in corner kicks.
Furman begins the SoCon portion of its schedule on Saturday evening, traveling to Mercer for a 7 p.m. kickoff.