HICKORY, N.C. – The Coker University men's soccer team picked up an important win in the South Atlantic Conference on Wednesday (Nov. 6) against the Lenoir-Rhyne University Bears with a 4-2 victory.
With the SAC tournament looming, this was a match the Cobras needed to win in order to keep their season alive. The Cobras came out firing in the first half as in the 10th minute, Christian Provenzano broke free on the outside, and crossed the ball into the box. Provenzano connected with Markos Touroukis, who scored his third goal of the year to give Coker an early 1-0 lead. Just a minute later, Provenzano and Touroukis were able to connect once again to extend the lead to 2-0 early in the first half.
In the 39th minute, the Bears were able to get on the scoreboard when Victor Cascon found the back of the net. However, the Cobras answered right back as Christian Provenzano escaped the Lenoir-Rhyne defense, and scored his 11th goal of the season to give Coker a 3-1 advantage heading into halftime. Provenzano finished with one goal and two assists in the first 45 minutes of play.
The Cobra defense continued to hold strong in the second half, as the Bears offensive attack generated 32 shot attempts (13 on goal) for the match. Goalkeeper Guilermo Falo Ejea tallied 11 saves, with an impressive all-around performance from the back line of Morgan Ratcliffe, Robi Obrstar, Adam Garner, and Niall Ratcliffe. In the 62nd minute, Jacques Fokam-Sandeu was able to set up Lucas Miquel Castrillo for the match-clinching goal as the Cobras cruised to a 4-2 victory over Lenoir-Rhyne.
"It was a complete team performance tonight," said coach Michael Antoniewicz. "The boys battled for 90 minutes and we got the result we wanted. Four fantastic goals, I am super proud of this team!"
With the win, the Cobras have earned a spot in the South Atlantic Conference tournament. Coker will be traveling to Jefferson City, Tennessee to take on the Carson-Newman University Eagles on Saturday (Nov. 9) at 7:30 p.m. Live coverage can be found at www.cokercobras.com