BANNER ELK, NC--Sophomore Berin Boracic (Orlando, FL) led the #3
Lees-McRae Bobcats soccer team with a pair of goals and an assist
in a 3-1 win over St. Andrews Presbyterian College Knights Saturday
afternoon in Conference Carolinas action at Tate Field. The
Bobcats improve to 11-1-1 (6-1 Conference Carolinas) while the
Knights fall to 8-3-2 (4-2).
After some excellent work in the midfield to control the
possession and move the ball up field by freshman Gary Challinor
(Sheffield, England) and Sam Sharples (London, England), Conference
Carolinas assist leader Boracic found Lees Squires (Sheffield,
England) inside the box five yards from Knights keeper Nick
Stevens. Squires made a quick move to his left and promptly buried
his Conference Carolinas leading 13th goal of the season, carrying
the home side through to halftime with a 1-0 lead.
Boracic would snap a six game goal scoring drought in the 55th
minute to extend the Bobcats lead to two early in the second half.
In what appeared to be a mirror image of the first goal, it was
Squires with possession at the top of the box who found Boracic on
the door step. After a quick move around Stevens, Boracic found
the back of the net for his tenth of the season. Unfortunately for
the Bobcats Justin Garton would connect on a cross from Chris
Weedon to play the role of spoiler for the Knights, snapping their
shutout bid in the 89th minute. Visually displeased with conceding
the goal, the Bobcats attacked the Knights until the final whistle,
with Boracic cashing in his second of the game with just four
seconds remaining.
"Extremely frustrating," commented Head Coach Chris Whalley in
reference to the late goal by the Knights. "We missed some
opportunities today; I felt we should have been able to put the
game away much earlier. However, we still managed to find a way to
win the game in front of a great Homecoming Weekend crowd. We had
a full team effort from everyone on the field; the players played a
great game all around."
The Bobcats outshot the Knights 23-12, and had close to double
the corner kicks, finishing with a 10-6 advantage. Stevens
recorded eight saves for the Knights while the Bobcats Sean
Paradise (North Point, FL) registered four.
The Bobcats hit the road for four of their last five games,
travelling to Greenwood, SC to kick things off with a
non-conference match up against Lander University next Wednesday.
Game time is set for 5:00pm.
PICTURED TOP LEFT: Berin Boracic
