SPARTANBURG, S.C. — Guilherme Fontes scored on a penalty kick with 10:28 remaining to give Converse University a 1-0 victory over Tusculum University in non-conference men’s soccer Wednesday night.
The Valkyries (5-1-1) and Pioneers (0-4-1) seemed headed toward a scoreless deadlock when Converse was awarded the penalty for a foul in the box in the 80th minute. Fontes scored his sixth goal and second on a penalty kick to give Converse the victory.
Converse had the first scoring attempt in the 12th minute, but a header by Nicholas Gartung off a cross was caught chest-high by Tusculum keeper Noe Delmotte. In the 15th minute, Delmotte went to his knees to stop a shot from the left side from Fontes. Tusculum’s lone shot attempt of the first half came in the 22nd minute, as a header from Gui Busato went well wide of the far post off a cross from Linus Salomonsen.
Delmotte would tack on two more saves in the first half, denying David Lopez off a corner kick in the 33rd minute and a turnaround attempt from 15 yards by Johannes Haden in the 40th minute as the teams went to intermission at 0-0.
Tusculum put its first shot on goal in the 58th minute, but a header attempt from Clarenns Sainrimat was pulled in by Converse keeper Harry O’Brien, who came on at halftime in place of starter Mateo Sanchez. Haden had a chance from about 10 yards in the 75th minute, but Delmotte was able to keep his feet while making the cradling save.
With 10 1/2 minutes left, the Valkyries were awarded a penalty kick after Jaxon Keene was grabbed and pulled down in the box. Fontes stepped up and blasted a left-footed shot to the far post past Delmotte to give Converse a 1-0 lead.
A header from Lars Schutrups was knocked over the crossbar by O’Brien with just over seven minutes to play. Tusculum’s last chance came with just under three minutes left following a corner kick, but Devin Vital‘s off-balance shot from just inside the 18 rolled wide of the target.
Delmotte had five saves for the Pioneers and O’Brien made three stops for the Valkyries, who outshot the Pioneers 10-8 in the match. Converse had a 6-4 advantage in corner kicks, while the Pioneers were called for 18 fouls to nine for the Valkyries.
Tusculum is slated to host Anderson on Saturday, Sept. 28 at 4:30 p.m. at Pioneer Field. The Trojans (3-1-1) are off to a 2-0 start in the South Atlantic Conference with wins over Emory & Henry and Mars Hill.
