Tuesday, September 7, 2004

SALEM, W.Va. --- The Tusculum College men's soccer team went 2-0 in two matches against schools from the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference last weekend. The Pioneers downed Salem International University 2-1 in overtime on Friday and blanked Alderson-Broaddus College 2-0 on Sunday.

Junior Jameson Riner's (Knoxville, Tenn.) goal with just over a minute left in the second overtime lifted Tusculum (2-0) to a 2-1 win over Salem International (1-2). (Box Score)

Senior Paul Hopkins (Portsmouth, England) got TC on the board in the fifth minute with his second goal of the season, but SIU knotted the score at 1-1 just before halftime on a penalty kick conversion from Milan Rakic.

The team's battled for almost 70 minutes without scoring before Riner's match-winner. Sophomore J.P. Swaminathan (Brampton, Ontario, Canada) went the distance in goal making five saves.

Hopkins scored twice, notching his third and fourth goals of the season as the Pioneers pitched their first shutout of the year, a 2-0 decision over Alderson-Broaddus (0-3). (Box Score)

Hopkins' goals came nine minutes apart. His first was just before halftime in the 41^st minute, and he added an insurance goal in the 50^th minute.

Swaminathan had nine stops in goal for his second career shutout.

Tusculum (3-0) returns to the Mountain State on Saturday, traveling to the University of Charleston for a 4 p.m. match.