Harding capitalized on two BSC turnovers to lead the victory effort. |
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Charlotte Comes Back to Beat Birmingham-Southern
Sept. 19, 2004
Birmingham, Ala. - Evan Harding scored with just 46 seconds left on the clock to give the Charlotte men's soccer team a 2-1 victory over Birmingham-Southern in the second round of the UAB/LaQuinta Classic on Sunday at West Campus Field.
With the game winding down and overtime looking likely, Steven Traeger picked off a pass in the Panther backfield, pushed the fall forward and hit Harding with a pass on the right side. Harding put the ball into the back of the net for the game-winner, his second goal of the day for Charlotte (2-2-1).
Birmingham-Southern (3-3) took a 1-0 lead in the first half, when Karim Dietz tallied his sixth goal of the season in the 23rd minute. The score would remain 1-0 heading into halftime.
In the 66th minute, Harding intercepted a BSC pass in the backfield and beat Panther goalkeeper Joseph Anthony one-on-one to equalize the score, setting up the dramatic finish almost 24 minutes later. The goals were the first two of the season for the sophomore from Matthews, NC.
"I'm proud of our players," Charlotte coach John Tart said following the game. "We grinded it out today, and our guys did a great job of coming back from a 1-0 deficit. I was also proud of our guys because this is a good rebound from a very disappointing match yesterday. We're going to get back to Charlotte and get ready for our upcoming match with Winthrop on Wednesday."
Charlotte had dropped a 4-1 decision to UAB on the tournament's opening day, as the Conference USA rivals combined for 39 total fouls, four yellow cards and a red card in the match.
Charlotte changed goalkeepers late in the first half, with Josh Beachem replacing Daniel Burk. Beachem ended the day with three saves to earn the victory. Charlotte out-shot Birmingham-Southern 21-14 on the day.
The 49ers are next in action on Wednesday, Sept. 22 at 7:00 pm, when they travel to Rock Hill, SC to take on Winthrop.
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