Charlotte men defeat Xavier

Cincinnati, Ohio - The 11th/16th-ranked Charlotte 49ers men’s soccer team (10-2-4, A-10: 4-1-2) rallied with three unanswered goals to defeat Xavier (2-12-1, A-10: 1-7), 3-2, on the road. Freshman Donnie Smith (Matthews, NC/Charlotte Catholic) recorded his first career multi-goals game with the 49ers’ first two goals. Then, senior Adam Gross (Austin, TX/Dripping Springs) tallied his team-leading eight goal and fourth game-winner of the season.

"We played great soccer in the second half," Charlotte coach Jeremy Gunn said. "You have to credit everyone on our team for showing such strength to rally from two goals down."

Charlotte had a chance to score the game’s first goal but Luke Exley’s penalty kick was stopped by Xavier’s goalkeeper Justin Marshall in the 14th minute.

Xavier’s Jake Vollmer scored the game’s first goal in the 25th minute.

Charlotte’s Evan James nearly tied the score in the 27th minute when he headed the ball toward the Xavier goal but Xavier’s Marshall was able to stop the ball.

Xavier made the score 2-0 at the half when James Getzen scored off a El-Hadji Dieng assist with 47 seconds left in the first half.

Charlotte cut Xavier’s lead in half when Andres Cuero saved the ball from going over the end line and crossed it to Smith who headed the ball into the goal in the 51st minute.

Charlotte tied the score when Cuero won a challenge and played the ball to Smith who buried the shot into the back of the net from six yards out in the 72nd minute. Smith has now scored three goals this season. While, Cuero’s two assists in the game moved him into a tie for the team-lead with six assists.

"Smith was tremendous in the second half," Gunn said. "He scored two goals but he also had several great crosses. He just kept terrorizing Xavier in the second half."

Gross completed the 49ers comeback when he scored his fourth game-winning goal of the season which came on a penalty kick in the 82nd minute. Exley was brought down in the box by a Xavier defender which created the 49ers’ penalty kick.

"I needed to redeem myself after missing a penalty kick against Dayton on Friday," Gross said. "I have not missed a penalty kick before Friday’s game in about six years. I was glad that I got the chance on another penalty kick so quickly. This was a great overall team win."

Charlotte finished the game with a 14-10 advantage in shots. Gross, Cuero and Smith all tallied three shots apiece. While, Evan James added two shots to the 49ers attack.

Charlotte concludes the regular-season with a road trip to Philadelphia next weekend, November 6-8. First, the 49ers battle Saint Joseph’s on the road, Friday, November 6. Then, Charlotte concludes the regular-season at Temple, Sunday, November 8 at 1 pm.