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WINCHESTER , Va. – The men’s soccer team took a major step toward qualifying for the season ending Dixie Conference Tournament Saturday afternoon with a 2-1 victory over Methodist College.

SU is now 8-4 overall and 3-2 in the Dixie with two conference games left. With wins over NC Wesleyan and Averett remaining (two teams that are a combined 2-7 in league play), the Hornets will qualify as no worse than the No. 3 seed in the four team tournament.

Against Methodist (8-4, 3-2) SU achieved the victory with a pair of goals in the first 22 minutes of play.

Freshman Luis Collantes ( Alexandria , Va. /TC Williams) gave the hosts a lead they would never relinquish in the 11^th minute when he intercepted a Methodist clearing volley and ripped a shot into the upper right hand corner of the net from 25 yards out. Twelve minutes later, sophomore Akmed Mansaray ( Alexandria , Va. /TC Williams) tallied what proved to be the game winning goal when he converted a nice cross from senior Guy Auguste (Chesapeake, Va./Va Wesleyan) right in front of the MC net.

The Monarchs cut the deficit to one in the 54^th minute when Bryan Madej headed home a James Chubb cross.

Keepers Tom Malinosky ( Clearwater , Fla. /Clearwater Catholic) and Justin Agema had six saves for SU and MC, respectively.

A complete box score can be found at http://www.su.edu/athletics/msoc/2001/101301.htm

The men are right back in action again tomorrow at Lincoln University .  

Football

WINCHESTER , Va. – Coaches make adjustments at halftime; it’s their time to try and turn the tide of the contest. For everyone who thinks that it isn’t possible to make a 180 degree turn, they should obtain a tape of Saturday night’s Dixie Conference between host Shenandoah and Greensboro .

Greensboro (4-2, 2-1) erased a 17 point halftime deficit to take a 26-17 victory before 2354 fans at Shentel Stadium in Winchester .

Shenandoah falls to 2-4 overall and 1-2 in the Dixie with the loss.

After 30 minutes of play, it looked like the Hornets were going to run away with it. Shenandoah took a 17-0 lead into the halftime lockerroom on a pair of touchdown runs from junior Wes Karns (Martinsburg, W. Va./Glenville State) and a 36-yard field goal from sophomore Morgan Linkenauger (Lanexa, Va./Lafayette). Linkenauger opened the scoring with the field goal with 5:08 to play in the first before Karns made it 10-0 with a 33 yard run on the first play of the second quarter.

Karns made the score 17-0 one possession later when he busted around right end from 10 yards out. Unfortunately, this would be the final time SU would hit paydirt for the evening.

The Pride got themselves back into the game by combining excellent special teams play with a bruising second half performance from running back Tim Lewis. Lewis finished the contest with a game high 119 yards on 21 carries, the vast majority of which came after halftime.

The special teams came into play midway through the third quarter with SU punting from its own end zone. After being victimized by a blocked punt returned for a touchdown in last week’s loss to Christopher Newport, Greensboro ’s Derek Mosher returned the favor this week.

Mosher split the Hornets line and blocked Ben Willard’s (Trumansburg, N.Y./Potomac State) punt two yards deep in the end zone. Ric Tattersall caught the ball on the fly and walked in untouched to make the score 17-7 Shenandoah. This touchdown was a mere dent in the SU lead, but signified a far more important shift in the game’s momentum.

After holding the Hornets to a three-downs-and-out situation on the ensuing drive, Greensboro once again exploited weaknesses in the SU special teams and rush defense.  GC returned the ensuing punt to the SU 23 and six plays later Lewis made the score 17-13 when he rammed it home from seven yards out.

After SU was once again unable to get a sustained drive going, the visitors took the lead for good by driving 72 yards in 10 plays to make the score 20-17 when quarterback Tommy Waters scrambled in from the 4.

Shenandoah fumbled the pooch kickoff, giving Greensboro the ball right back at the SU 29. Four plays later, George Washington scored from the 8 on a reverse to give GC a nine point lead at 26-17.

The Hornets attempted to make things interesting by driving to the Greensboro 1 with 3:00 remaining, but Dennis Robart ( Cuyahoga Falls , Ohio / Potomac State) was stuffed on fourth and goal from the 1.

Lewis led all rushers with his 119 yards on 21 carries while Karns had 95 yards on nine carries for the Hornets.  Wayne Hogwood ( Arlington , Va. / Wakefield ) was 5 for 9 for 90 yards for SU; Waters completed 8 of 20 passes for Greensboro .

A complete box score can be found at http://www.su.edu/athletics/fb/2001/101301.htm

Shenandoah hosts Chowan next week at Shentel. Game time is 7:00 .