Box Score by Kevin Buczek
MISENHEIMER, N.C.-Sophomore Erik Pajunk (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) bent home his own corner kick in the 19th minute of play to guide No. 10 Southeast Region ranked Barton College to a 1-0 victory over Pfeiffer University in Conference Carolinas men's soccer action on Tuesday afternoon.
Barton notched its first win against the Falcons in their last seven attempts moving to 5-1 overall, 2-1 in league play. The loss, Pfeiffer's fourth-straight, sends them to 1-6, 0-2.
The Bulldogs, who just moved back into the NSCAA Southeast Region rankings earlier Tuesday, will be going for its fourth consecutive victory on Saturday when Barton hosts Limestone College at 7 p.m., during the college's Family Weekend. BC and LC are currently ranked tied for 10th together in the regional poll.
"We found another way to win a close battle tonight," said Matt Akins, Barton head coach. "It was a highly contested 90 minutes where our emphasis of keeping them out of the score column was kept in check when Brian Riesenberg saved a PK with just over 5 minutes to play. It is always good to get a win on the road and Pfeiffer gave us all we could handle today."
After a Falcon foul early in the 19th minute, Pajunk lined up to deliver his corner kick from the left side of the pitch. Bending his cross into the box, the ball snuck through all traffic in front of the cage and found the right-side netting for his fifth strike of the season.
Trailing through halftime and most of the second, Pfeiffer finally got its golden opportunity to score with just 5:20 left on the clock. The Bulldogs were called for a foul inside the 18-yard box that set up a penalty kick for the Falcons. Freshman Kyle Toler (Charlotte, N.C.) took the attempt firing to the left of keeper Brian Riesenberg (Fort Thomas, Ky.) who judged the shot accurately by making a dive before turning the shot aside to preserve the shutout.
In the 90 minutes, Barton held a slim 20-19 advantage in shots while Pfeiffer held an 8-7 mark in shots on goal. Taylor Scalera (Dacula, Ga.) put three of those eight Pfeiffer shots on target to lead the hosts.
Riesenberg stopped a total of eight shots on the day while Zach Liles (Cumming, Ga.) blocked a half-dozen. The shutout was the first of the season for Risenberg and the Bulldogs defenders.
