ANDERSON, S.C. - Anderson freshman Tapiwa Munetsi came off the bench to score two goals in a 10-minute span in the second half to lift sixth-ranked Anderson to a 4-2 win past Wingate in South Atlantic Conference men's soccer action Saturday afternoon at Trojan Stadium.
As the No. 1 seed in next week's 2011 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Tournament, Anderson (14-3, 9-0 SAC), will host the eighth-seeded Bulldogs (4-12, 2-7 SAC) in the tourney's quarterfinal round on Tuesday afternoon at 3 p.m.
Anderson bounced back from a disappointing mid-week setback, improving to 15-1 in two seasons at Trojan Stadium, while becoming the first team since Carson-Newman in 2006 to post an unblemished conference record and the sixth team in league history to go through the SAC schedule without suffering any losses or ties during the regular season.
Trojan senior forward Lasse Sohrweide put the Trojans on top early after taking a pass from teammate Mark Smith and scored his 15th goal of the season in the 10th minute of action. The assist was Smith's sixth of the campaign.
But Wingate senior midfielder Fabricio Barancoski answered for the Bulldogs almost exactly seven minutes later to even the score at 1-1.
The first-half offensive fireworks display continued, as AU senior Daniel Bowers took a feed from Sohrweide and the Summerville, S.C., native found the back of the net from 10 yards away for his fifth score of the season.
But Wingate, battling for a berth in the postseason tourney, refused to surrender as sophomore midfielder Gui Andrade posted the equalizer at the 29:02 mark after taking a cross from teammate Fabio Azeredo.
The two teams went to intermission deadlocked at 2-2, with Wingate holding a narrow 9-8 advantage in shots.
Munetsi, a 5-foot-8 forward, gave the Homecoming crowd a reason to celebrate midway through the second half. He came off the bench in the 63rd minute and 33 seconds later notched his second game-winning score of the season from just in front of the Wingate net.
He ensured that AU's Senior Day would be a success with his second goal of the afternoon at the 72:15 mark and the Trojan defense held off the Bulldogs the rest of the way.
Anderson outshot Wingate, 18-17, on the afternoon and corner kicks were even at 4-4. AU net-minder Lukas Hesse recorded five saves, while Wingate keeper Peter Trask collected two saves on the afternoon.
The Trojans and Bulldogs will square off for the second time in four days on Tuesday, as AU and Wingate will get underway following the Anderson-Tusculum women's quarterfinal round matchup that is slated to start at 1 p.m.
