Macon, Ga. - Atlantic Sun Conference Freshman of the Year Sonny Guadarrama
scored once while assisting on another to help lead top-seeded Campbell past
Florida Atlantic 2-0 in the A-Sun Tournament Semifinals at Bear Field.
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.