CVAC soccer semis: Limestone downs Mount Olive

By MOC Sports Information
Published in Sports on October 29, 2006 2:02 AM

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MOUNT OLIVE -- Goals by Woody Stilley and Ryan Adamski rallied Mount Olive from an early deficit, but Tom Beattie's second goal of the match in the 69th minute put Limestone ahead to stay as the third-seeded Saints defeated the seventh-seeded Trojans 3-2 in the semifinal round of the 2006 Carolinas-Virginia Athletics Conference Men's Soccer Tournament Saturday at Trojan Field.

Limestone advances to today's championship match against No. 4 seed St. Andrews, which eliminated Queens in a penalty kick shootout.

The match was scoreless until the 14th minute when Mount Olive was called for a handball in the box and Beattie converted the penalty kick. But the Trojans evened the match just 34 seconds later as Charles Williams played a restart from midfield deep into the Limestone box and Stilley headed the ball in.

Mount Olive needed only four more minutes to take its first lead of the match as Chris Varela played a ball to Adamski at midfield and Adamski did the rest, taking the ball all the way to the right corner, slipping past a defender on the end line into the box and lacing a shot off Limestone goalkeeper Ryan Robinson into the goal to give the Trojans a 2-1 lead. Adamski scored the game-winning 86 seconds into the Trojans' first-round win over No. 2 seed Belmont Abbey.

The Trojans appeared to be headed into halftime with a lead, but Limestone tied the match with just 79 seconds left in the first half. The Saints played a short ball on a corner kick and Dominic Casciato won a scramble in the box for a goal off of Liam Brown's assist to even the match at 2-2 going into intermission.

The match remained tied until the 69th minute when Limestone scored again off a short ball on a corner kick. After the ball was crossed into the box, Beattie's first shot was deflected by Trojan goalkeeper Chase Smith. But Beattie captured the deflection and put home what proved to be the game winner.

The match took an unusual turn shortly after the goal as a combined five yellow cards - three against Mount Olive, two against Limestone - were issued in a span of less than seven minutes, beginning in the 73rd minute.

The Trojans challenged for the tying goal in the final minute, but Robinson made a save on Matt Wallin's 18-yard shot, then captured the service on a Trojan corner kick with 36 seconds remaining.

Shots were even at 10 apiece. Smith finished with five saves for Mount Olive, while Robinson recorded three saves for Limestone.

After overcoming a 3-5-0 start, Mount Olive finished with a record of 12-8-0. Limestone improves to 13-2-4 and makes its first-ever appearance in the championship game.

In the first semifinal, St. Andrews and Queens battled through 110 scoreless minutes. Queens goalkeeper Dan Williams made saves on St. Andrews' first two penalty kick attempts, while St. Andrews keeper made saves on Queens' first and fourth attempt. After Queens' seventh attempt was wide, Andrew Johnson put the ball in the back of the net to send the Knights into the championship game for the first time in school history.

The championship match is scheduled for today at 1 p.m. at Trojan Field.