St. Andrews blanks Limestone in conference showdown

September 29, 2007

Boxscore

LAURINBURG, N.C.—Junior Justin Garton (Germantown, Md.) scored a pair of goals to lead St. Andrews Presbyterian College to a 2-0 shutout of Limestone College on Saturday afternoon in a Conference Carolinas men’s soccer battle between two teams that entered the contest tied with each other for No. 3 in the Southeast Region.

The Knights, who boast a 7-2-2 overall record and a 3-1-0 ledger in the conference, extended their unbeaten streak to six games with their third shutout in their last four matches. The Saints fall to 5-3-1 and 2-3-1.

St. Andrews quickly jumped out to a 1-0 lead in a rematch of the 2006 CVAC Tournament Finals that ended in a 0-0 tie. Garton was brought down inside the Limestone box right before he had a chance to take an open shot. Garton confidently scored on the ensuing penalty kick just 3:42 into the game.

The Knights maintained the slim one-goal advantage for the next 76-plus minutes before Garton doubled up the score with his eighth goal of the season. The Saints tried to clear their defensive third of the field when sophomore Andrew Johnson (Sterling, Va.) deflected the clearing attempt right to the speedy Garton, who then stuffed away the insurance goal on the breakaway in the 80th minute.

Garton’s two goal performance extended his team-high totals to eight goals and 17 points.

Junior goalkeeper Nick Stevens (Kernersville, N.C.) made six saves for the Knights to earn his third shutout and seventh win of the season. Stevens and the St. Andrews defense has not allowed a goal in its last 272-minutes of play (4 1/2 hours). Senior Ryan Robinson (Snellville, Ga.) made five saves for Limestone.

Both teams had 13 shots with Garton led all attackers with seven total shots. Junior Tom Beattie (Goole, England) had six of the Saints shots but Stevens stopped all four of his attempts on frame.

St. Andrews hosts Conference Carolinas foe Coker College on Wednesday at 4:00 p.m.