Due West---The Erskine men's soccer team has played well of late but has
received little reward for their efforts. On a rainy Monday night in Due
West, the Fleet saw a positive result as they got two 2nd half goals to
push past USC-Aiken 2-1 at Huggins Field.
After a scoreless opening stanza, junior Andy Castano (Orlando, FL) put
the Fleet on the board at 46:55 when he struck a beautiful ball from the
right top of the penalty box. The goal was assisted by freshman Matt Sluga
(Greer, SC). Aiken responded at 61:08 as John Lesko fielded a Cory Adamson
corner kick on the left post and finished it off in the back of the net.
Aiken appeared to take control of the game following the goal and a
familiar looking scenario that has seen the Fleet lose numerous tight
contest this season appeared to again be playing itself out. But on this
night the trend would be broken as the Fleet's Patrick Brown scored his
first career goal at 76:40 to stop the Aiken momentum and put Erskine up
2-1. Sluga was credited with his 2nd assist of the night. The final 13
minutes saw the Fleet dodge several USC-Aiken attempts but freshman
goalie Devon Braykovich (Roswell, GA) was up to the task. Braykovich made
5 saves in the match as he has continually improved in goal each game.
Erskine got solid performances from its English connection-- Jack Kimber,
Alex Connelly, and Matt Robinson.
Erskine will next be in action on Saturday afternoon at St. Andrews Presbyterian College at 3:00 p.m.