Friday, November 03, 2006

DELAND, Fla. – In its first postseason appearance since joining the league in 2002, No. 2 seeded Gardner-Webb defeated No. 3 seeded Campbell 2-0 in the semi-finals on Friday in the Atlantic Sun Championship sponsored by Bealls Outlet.

GWU put pressure on the Fighting Camels early, drilling a shot less than two minutes into the match and never letting up. First team all-conference selection Aaron Johnson continued to keep Campbell alive, making incredible saves to hold the Bulldogs at bay for the first 45 minutes.

Campbell’s best opportunity to score in the first half came in the 27th minute. With second team all-conference selection Tyler Kettering out of the goal, Willy Guadarrama has a shot blocked by a GWU defender that hit the cross bar.

The Bulldogs were finally able to put away an opportunity 11 minutes into the second half when Chris Salvaggione netted a goal.

Logan Swaim widened the lead for GWU in the 66th minute, scoring a goal off a rebounded from Boris Gatzky’s shot.

The Camels saw one final opportunity to put a goal on the board in the final minute of the game. A free kick gave Richard Jata a chance, but Tyler Kettering would make the save to stop any hope of a Campbell goal.

Kettering and Johnson were both stellar in goal for their squads with 8 and 11 saves, respectively.

In their regular season meeting, GWU and Campbell played to a 1-1 draw. Resolution finally came for the Bulldogs with the win.

The Bulldogs advances to face the winner of the Jacksonville-Stetson match up in the championship round on Saturday at 7 p.m.