Box Score by Kevin Buczek
WILSON, N.C.-Sixth seeded Erskine College scored a pair of goals in the final 20 minutes to rally past host and third seeded Barton College with a 2-1 victory in the quarterfinals of the 2011 Conference Carolinas Men's Soccer Tournament on Tuesday night.
The Flying Fleet (10-7-1) – ranked No. 10 in the NSCAA/adidas Southeast Region Poll released earlier in the day – advance to the semifinals and will play at second seeded Limestone College in the semifinals on Friday at 7 p.m. The Bulldogs (11-7-0) were eliminated but still recorded the programs best record since 1998.
"Looking at the season as a whole you cannot measure the successes this group has accomplished this season with one game," said Barton head coach Matt Akins. "We had a tremendous fall that was an exciting step forward for the Barton men's soccer team."
Barton was hosting its first league tournament game since 2000 and used the support of a large crowd in the first half to take 1-0 lead on a goal scored by freshman Jonathan Rembecki (Fuquay-Varina, N.C.).
Sophomore Eric Pajunk (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) – the nation's leader in assists – started the sequence in the middle of the field by drawing a couple defenders while going towards Erskine's goal. Pajunk then fed the ball over to classmate Archer Bane (Greenville, N.C.) on the left flank. Bane served up a perfect cross in front of the goal to the foot of Rembecki, who cashed in on the opportunity for his third goal of his rookie season.
Pajunk increased his final season totals to a staggering 14 assists and 44 points.
Barton held a slim 1-0 halftime lead against Erskine for the second time this year. The Fleet forced overtime in the first meeting before losing in overtime but then won three of its final four games including quality wins over East Division champions Lees-McRae and then nationally ranked No.6 Anderson University to build confidence heading into Tuesday's playoff rematch.
Akins added, "It as a hard fought game with both sides picking up right here where we left off in the overtime match several weeks ago."
Senior Brady Johnson (Charleston, S.C.) leveled the score in the 70th minute with a shot from the top of the box that bounced off the left side of the crossbar and into the net.
Senior Jack Kimber (Manchester, England) was credited with an assist on Johnson's first goal of the season before he scored the game winner in the 81st minute. Freshman Andrew Settlemire (Beaufort, S.C.) slipped Kimber the ball at the top of box and Kimber ripped a shot into right-side twine for his seventh tally.
Barton's offense took the ball at Erskine's cage throughout the 90 minutes but Fleet sophomore goalie Roberto De La Vina (Oviedo, Spain) kept the Bulldogs high scoring offense at bay with six saves. The 6-foot-3 De La Vina was the league's first team All-Conference goalkeeper in 2010 and he stayed true to form using his height and athleticism to break up countless Barton passes and crosses.
The Bulldogs held an 8-3 corner kick advantage but De La Vina thwarted most of the opportunities before Barton could get a shot off. Erskine finished with a 13-11 shot edge.
"We created several great opportunities which is all you can ask for in an elimination game however we came up against a hot goalkeeper that denied us in the second half," Akins stated.
The senior defensive tandem of goalkeeper Brian Riesenberg (Fort Thomas, Ky.) and sweeper Mitchell Pool (Wake Forest, N.C.), who were four year starters for the Bulldogs, were instrumental factors in Barton's resurgence in men's soccer. Riesenberg made five saves in his first playoff appearance while finishing his final year with a 10-4 record between the pipes.
Coach Akins concluded by saying, "Brian and Mitchell gave us four special years and Cesar [Grobel] was a gift this final year. These three are all great competitors that we will never be able to replace."
