Saturday, November 5, 2005

Contact: Stan Cole

Campbell Rallies Past Florida Atlantic 3-2; Wins Atlantic Sun Regular Season Title

BUIES CREEK, N.C. - Goals in the 82nd and 86th minutes rallied Campbell from a late deficit and provided the Fighting Camels with a 3-2 victory over Florida Atlantic Saturday and the Atlantic Sun Conference men's soccer regular season championship.

Chris Price, who made only his second appearance in a month, netted the equalizer with 8:07 left in regulation, then Willy Guadarrama provided the winner with 4:50 remaining in the game to run his national-leading tally to 20 goals on the season.

The Fighting Camels (12-5-1, 7-1-0 A-Sun), who were picked to finish sixth in the pre-season poll of league head coaches, earned the top seed in next week's A-Sun Championship tournament at Macon, Ga., after doubling their overall win total from 2004. CU's 12 victories are the program's most since the 1996 club finished 12-7-1.

Campbell tied a school record for A-Sun victories in the regular season set by the 1997 club and earned its first outright regular season title since joining the league in 1994. CU won A-Sun West crowns in 1995 and 1997 when the league played in a divisional format.

On Saturday, the Camels jumped in front after just 1:23 of play when Sonny Guadarrama (the nation's top freshman scorer) headed in Julian Fulton's cross for his 11th goal of the season.

Andrew Helm, a South Florida transfer seeing his first game action of the year, nearly equalized for the Owls (7-8-0, 4-2-0) in the 20th minute when his volley from the top of the box sailed just over the bar.

Campbell central defender Devin Sheppard went down in the 30th minute with an ankle sprain, and Florida Atlantic drew level with just 2:15 remaining before the half. Diego Monsalve lofted a pass over the Camel back four and Leo De Mata's right-footed shot inside the box beat Camel keeper Aaron Johnson inside the right post for his fourth goal of the season.

Just over six minutes into the second period, Helm hit the score sheet for the first time this year when Walter Yoder split the Camel defense on a counter attack and Helm beat Johnson one-on-one.

In the 68th minute, Matt Lightner crossed into the FAU box and Chad Aboud's header was on target, but senior keeper Anders Granstad covered the right post and held for the save. With just under 12 minutes remaining, Granstad parried Sonny Guadarrama's shot from about six yards to preserve the FAU advantage.

Price, who entered as a substitute in the 69th minute, rewarded the Camels with his first goal in two years with less than nine minutes remaining. Aboud dribbled down the left flank and sent a low pass across the goal mouth to Price, whose first-timer hit the net. The assist was the seventh of the year for Aboud, who was one of four Camel seniors playing in their final home game.

Just 3:17 later, the Fighting Camels were in front when Willy Guadarrama dribbled through the back four and hit the right side of the goal. The sophomore from Cedar Park, Texas leads the country with 44 points on 20 goals and four assists through 18 matches. The game-winner was his fourth of the year and second in six days after he scored the lone goal in a 1-0 victory over Mercer on Monday.

"We came out buzzing and got an early goal, but we put it on cruise control," said fourth-year Campbell head coach Doug Hess. "I felt we got what we deserved in the first half, but thankfully we went in level. FAU probably had the better of the play in the second half, but our guys believe in themselves. To grind out that second half on attitude and effort says a lot about our team."

CU ended an eight-game losing streak to the Owls by winning its fourth league game at home in as many tries this season. A year ago, CU finished with a 6-10-1 overall record and missed the A-Sun tournament by one spot after going 4-5-0 in the league.

"Even though he hasn't been getting the call in games, Chris Price just kept on working day-in and day-out in training," said Hess. "I'm so happy for him to get the tying goal, not only for our team, but for himself."

All three Campbell goals came from former Austin United Capitals club team members, while Fulton, another Austin Capitals product, set up CU's first score.

The match was the final one at home for Aboud, Archer Abblitt, David Comito and Mike Moghaddam. Abblitt made his second start of the year, while the other three seniors have been first-11 players in each of CU's 18 contests.

Campbell carries the top seed into Friday's semifinal round of the A-Sun Championship at Macon, Ga. Florida Atlantic plays tomorrow at Gardner-Webb in a 1:00 p.m. kick-off. The Owls could finished second or fourth in the A-Sun standings depending on the result. The top two seeds in the six-school A-Sun tourney earn a bye past Thursday's first round. [Box Score]

Campbell 3, Florida Atlantic 2

Scoring:

CAM (1:23) Sonny Guadarrama (Julian Fulton assist)

FAU (42:45) Leo De Mata (Diego Monsalve)

FAU (51:04) Andrew Helm (Walter Yoder)

CAM (81:53) Chris Price (Chad Aboud)

CAM (85:10) Willy Guadarrama (unassisted)

Shots: FAU 17, Campbell 14

Corner Kicks: FAU 2, Campbell 8

Saves: FAU (Anders Granstad) 3, Campbell (Aaron Johnson) 4

Fouls: FAU 17, Campbell 16

Offside: FAU 8, Campbell 3

Yellow Cards: FAU - Diego Monsalve (72:15); Campbell - Sonny Guadarrama (59:26)

Records: FAU 7-8-0, 4-2-0 A-Sun; Campbell 12-5-1, 7-1-0.