HICKORY, N.C. — Lenoir-Rhyne University came away with a 2-1 victory over Tusculum University in South Atlantic Conference men’s soccer Saturday afternoon.
Jonas Moos scored the tying goal on a penalty kick in the 61st minute and Raul Canas followed with the winner just over 10 minutes later for the Bears (6-4-3, 5-2-2 SAC), who have clinched a home match in next weekend’s SAC Tournament quarterfinals.
The Pioneers (5-8-1, 2-6-1 SAC) led 1-0 at halftime on a goal from Filippo Canaletich in the 41st minute, but allowed 11 shot attempts to the Bears in the second half after conceding just one in the first half.
The only shot on goal for either team in the first 40 minutes came in the 32nd minute, when a shot from Oskar Dahlberg of Lenoir-Rhyne was stopped by Tusculum keeper Noe Delmotte.
Canaletich gave the Pioneers a 1-0 lead at 40:28 when he took a pass from Linus Salomonsen at the back post and scored his second of the season past Bears keeper Tomas Fontes.
Tusculum nearly went up 2-0 in the 48th minute as Carlos Perez broke down the left side and took a shot that beat Fontes, but was cleared over the end line by Guillermo Garcia.
Lenoir-Rhyne was awarded a penalty kick in the 61st minute when Tusculum was called for a foul in the box during a corner kick by the Bears. Moos took the kick and scored past a diving Delmotte to knot the score at 1-1 with just over 29 minutes to play.
Canaletich had a shot for the Pioneers in the 65th minute, but his attempt was stopped on two hops by Fontes. The Bears went up 2-1 at 71:10 as passes off the heads of David Grifell and Fran Tita went to the foot of Canas, whose shot went near side past Delmotte for his third goal of the season.
The Pioneers were forced to play a man down for the final 15 minutes when Delmotte, who was shown a yellow after the penalty kick from Moos, pushed down Daniel Martinez outside the box to deny a goal scoring opportunity.
Despite the deficit, the Pioneers had two good chances that came from Salomonsen off a corner kick in the 77th minute and by Canaletich in the 79th minute that Fontes stopped at the line. Tusculum’s last opportunity was in the 81st minute on a free kick from 20 yards by Le Floch, but it ricocheted cleanly off the crossbar.
Donovan Cobb, who came on after Delmotte was sent off, made two saves in the final 15 minutes for the Pioneers to keep the deficit at a goal.
Both teams had 12 shot attempts and five shots on goal, with Fontes making three saves for the Bears. Tusculum was called for 21 fouls to 13 for Lenoir-Rhyne, and the teams combined for 11 cards with seven to the Pioneers.
Tusculum must defeat Carson-Newman in the regular-season finale on Wednesday, Nov. 5 at 5:00 p.m. in Jefferson City. Both teams are sitting on seven points and are two points behind Wingate for the final spot in the SAC Tournament. The Bulldogs host Coker on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.
