A five-point night from Alex Caskey led the Davidson men's soccer team to a 4-1 victory over No. 25 South Carolina in front of 971 fans on Friday night at Alumni Stadium.
Junior Alex Caskey scored twice and assisted on the opening goal. Senior Charlie Reiter added three points to remain as the team’s scoring leader with 13 points (4 goals, 5 assists).
“I’m just really proud of the team and the victory, but is all about the guys,” said head coach Matt Spear. “They deserve it because they’ve trained hard and prepared well. We beat a very good team and are off to a great start.”
“It mean’s a lot that we were able to not only hold them to one goal, but that we were able to score on them, “ added Caskey.
Reiter started the first scoring-play with a pass to Caskey, who dribbled the ball past the midfield line and sent a perfect place-ball to a streaking Yannick Pilgrim on the near-side of the field. Pilgrim broke free from a defender and dribbled into the left corner of the box, drilling a shot to the far-post over South Carolina goalkeeper Jimmy Maurer for an early 1-0 lead at 22:35.
“That play really got us excited and going into the half up two-nil really helped our confidence, “said Caskey.
Caskey extended the lead on a penalty kick near the close of the half. The play started when a South Carolina shot was blocked out to midfield and Reiter dribbled the ball all the way down to the 18-yard box in USC territory and dished the ball to Pilgrim. Pilgrim broke free from his defender and raced into the box, but was taken down from behind on a slide tackle, resulting in a penalty kick on which Caskey scored at 38:50 to give the ‘Cats a 2-0 lead at halftime.
“We talked at halftime about not letting down and continuing to attack,” said Spear. “Being able to get two more goals shows the confidence, maturity and composure of this team.”
At 16:05 into the second-half, Caskey struck again, heading in a corner kick from Reiter.
South Carolina’s Mike Lindsay narrowed Davidson’s margin with a goal with 16:52 remaining, but Reiter restored the ‘Cats three-goal advantage with nine minutes remaining in the contest. Mark Millard started the play, dribbling down to the goal line on the near side and playing a cross into the six-yard box .The ball slipped past Pilgrim, who distracted the goalkeeper, and Reiter came sliding into the box and slipped the ball in on the far post.
South Carolina outshot Davidson 16-11, but both teams were even with five shots on net apiece. Wildcat goalkeeper Chip Sanders made four saves while Maurer made one.
“I thought we did great defensively and were very organized the whole game,“ said defenseman Greg Macamara. “It was a great team effort.”
Davidson’s next match will be against the College of Charleston to open Southern Conference play. Game time is set for 7 p.m. at Alumni Stadium on Wednesday.
“I told the guys that they should celebrate this win because it is a great victory for them and Davidson, but tomorrow it is back to work for conference play,” said Spear. “It is going to be very challenging and exciting.”