Box Score AIKEN, S.C. – The University of South Carolina Aiken men's soccer team overcame a slow start en route to a 3-1 victory over visiting Queens Monday evening in a non-conference contest.
The Pacers improve to 3-1-1 on the young season.
The visitors jumped on top with an early 1-0 lead just 5:35 into the match. The Royals' Ryan Ejezie played the ball from the right side of the pitch into the box. The ball skidded a bit and Ryan Kawcynski one-timed it into the back of the net for the score.
Head coach Ike Ofoje's team continued to press forward, dominating the majority of the first half despite trailing 1-0.
At the 26:00 mark of the half, a foul was called in the box and Noel Mais promptly took the kick and rocketed a shot into the back of the net, evening the contest.
From that point forward, Ofoje's team pressed forward, creating several chances that the team narrowly missed on. The team had multiple chances to increase the lead prior to the intermission, but the squad was unable to.
As both teams were tied nearly halfway through the second half, the visitors were whistled for another hard foul in the box, which resulted in another penalty kick. Mais took this one as well and beat the keeper with a shot to the right side of the goal for a 2-1 edge.
With the lead for the first time in the match, the Pacers were able to generate even more offense as Queens tried to take more chances for the equalizer. However, the stingy USC Aiken defense prevailed as the few good chances the visitors had were turned away by either the back line or keeper Brandon Jarosz.
In the 88th minute, Rodrigo Goncalves dribbled the ball up the right side of the pitch and crossed it toward the goal. From there, Jordan Misiri took a shot from point-blank range and converted for the 3-1 win.
For the match, the Pacers totaled 16 shots to 12 by Queens. USC Aiken maintained a 13-4 advantage in corner kicks.
In a foul-plagued match, the teams combined for 31 fouls, including two yellow cards.
The Pacers return to action Wednesday at 4 p.m., when they hit the road for a match at Pfeiffer.
