ANDERSON, S.C. - After beginning the season with three straight road matches, Anderson University men's soccer opens its home schedule and continues its long-standing rivalry with Erskine in search for its Beville Cup point on Wednesday. Kickoff from Trojan Stadium is slated for 4 p.m.
The Trojans
Despite back-to-back setbacks to start the campaign, AU earned its
first win of the year on Saturday with a 2-0 victory over South
Atlantic Conference rival Catawba. With the win, head coach Michael
Zion earned his first victory as head coach after being an
assistant coach with the program for four seasons. With a match on
tap for Wednesday, the Trojans have a chance to even their overall
record to 2-2 with a win over their archrivals.
Anderson got its goals on Saturday from newcomer Magnus Larsen and the team's leading goal scorer in 2013, Andre Carle. The pair joins sophomore Brad Du Plooy to round out AU's goal scorers on the year, while Du Plooy currently leads the squad in points with three. Also tallying points on the young season, captain Lars Zimmerman and fellow defender Oliver Wright each have assist for the year.
Defensively, sophomore goalkeeper Bo Haug claimed his seventh
clean sheet of his career on Saturday, despite not recording a
save. For his career, Haug has posted 27 saves and holds a 12-8-3
record.
The Flying Fleet
Erskine has captured wins in three of its first four matches of the
season, as it travels to Trojan Stadium currently riding a
two-match winning streak. In their most recent result, the Fleet
captured a convincing 4-1 triumph over in-state and Conference
Carolinas opponent, North Greenville. Erskine's lone blemish on the
year came at Clayton State, where the Fleet fell to the Peach Belt
Conference power, 3-1.
Senior Andrew Settlemire leads the Erskine offense, as his five goals on the young season currently lead Conference Carolinas. Sattlemire has scored in every match this season and is the only player in Conference Carolinas with double figure points (11), as he capped off last week with a two-goal performance against the Crusaders on Saturday.
In goal, Fiore Costa has started in all four matches while making 19 saves, which ties for second in the conference.
The Series
Anderson snapped a two-year winless drought against its archrivals
a season ago, as the Trojans cruised to a 6-2 win in Due West to
open the 2013 season. The Trojans are now 2-1-2 against the Fleet
in the past five seasons.
