MARYVILLE – Brady Hammer scored his first collegiate goal Friday night to put Maryville over the top 1-0 against a tough Southern Virginia squad.
The Scots (2-0-1) held strong against the Knights (2-1-0) relentless second-half attack and walked away victorious on Day 1 of the Maryville College Fall Classic.
Hammer drove the nail home in the contest with a decisive 51st-minute banger, using his left foot to find the back of the net after receiving a pass from
Craig McIlwraith. McIlwraith picked up his third assist of the young season on the play.
"It was a beautiful goal," Maryville head coach
Pepe Fernandez said. "To have a freshman step up and win a game for us was really nice. Just a class goal. He's so good on his right foot for coming inside, just a really talented athlete. All the freshmen who played tonight did well."
Seven first-year student-athletes saw the field in the contest, with
Nic Prins being one of just two non-goalkeeper Scots to play the full 90 minutes. Sophomore,
Will Gallaher, was the other.
Maryville dominated the ball in the first half, posting a 12-5 ratio in shots in the first 45 minutes while holding a 62 percent possession rate.
Despite this discrepancy in the first half, it wasn't until early in the second that Maryville was able to take the lead. While the Scots took the lead in the second half, the Knights made them work hard to maintain that advantage.
"It was a good team win. We kind of had to dig our heels in a little bit late, and we did it and really didn't give them a lot of great chances."
Southern Virginia outshot the Scots 6-3 in the second half, and had ball possession for 58 percent of the half, compared to 42 percent for Maryville. The Knights also recorded a 5-1 ratio on corner kicks in the final 45 minutes of play.
Goalkeeper
Christian Alcaraz had a strong game for the Scots, recording three saves and picking up his first shutout of the season.
Hammer and Brady paced Maryville in shots with four apiece while Benjamin Simister led the way for SVU with three. Dallin Chappell played the full 90 minutes in goal for the Knights and recorded two saves.
Maryville is back in action Saturday night for Day 2 of the MC Fall Classic. The Scots will face off against Greenville (0-2-0) at 6:15 p.m. at the MC Soccer Complex.
