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11/11/2005 - MEN'S SOCCER
Campbell Advances To A-Sun Championship
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The Camels advance to their first championship match since 1996 and gave a chance to capture their first A-Sun Tournament title.
Florida Atlantic put five shots on goal in the first half, but Campbell goalkeeper Aaron Johnson turned away each. The Camels' explosive offense finally came to life in the closing minutes of the first half. Sonny Guadarrama's header was pushed wide of the goal by a diving Anders Granstad to force a Campbell corner kick. After the corner, Guadarrama found himself on the scoring end of a loose ball that bounced around the box. The A-Sun Freshman of the Year delivered the Camels a 1-0 lead at the intermission after netting his 12th goal of the season, the most by any freshman in the NCAA.
FAU nearly picked up the equalizer in the opening minutes of the second half when forward Andrew Helm's shot from just inside the box missed wide, and ten minutes later, the Owls had a great chance on a header by Ran Poliker erased by a diving Johnson save. The Camels answered to the challenge seconds later when Willy Guadarrama headed a perfect service from his brother to give the Camels a two-goal advantage in the 58th minute. Johnson, an A-Sun Defensive Player of the Year, remained a stalwart for Campbell pushing a 30-yard rocket from Guilherme Riberio wide of the near post to end FAU's best scoring chance in the closing minutes.
Johnson finished with nine saves while Willy Guadarrama added his NCAA-best 21st goal of the season to jump into 10th place in the A-Sun single season top-10 in goals scored.
Campbell will face the winner of the second semifinal versus Stetson and the host Mercer in the Atlantic Sun Championship match at 7:00 pm on Saturday night.
| Post-Game Audio |
| Campbell Head Coach Doug Hess | ||
| on the team's defensive effort | ||
| on Sonny Guadarrama | ||
| on Willy Guadarrama | ||
| Campbell Senior Mike Moghaddam | ||
| on winning semifinal | ||
| on playing FAU | ||
| FAU Head Coach Kos Donev | ||
| on missed scoring opportunities | ||
| on departing seniors |
