NEWS

Denis Krioutchenkov after scoring a goal earlier this season.

DAVIDSON – Despite being down five players coming into Tuesday night’s non-conference match with the Mercer Bears, the Davidson Wildcats pulled out their first victory of the season, 2-1. Nico Quanbeck and Denis Krioutchenkov netted goals in the win. 

The home team struck first in the 18th minute when the Wildcats played a ball back to goalkeeper Lucas Beltran. The sophomore keeper sent a long ball down the right side and found Piers Ringdahl, who took it down near Mercer’s 18-yard box. From there, Ringdahl sent the ball across to Quanbeck inside the 18 who then rifled a right-foot shot past the Bears’ keeper to make it 1-0. 

That score stood until the second half. In the 59th minute, the Bears equalized in controversial fashion when Alonzo Clarke was ripped to the ground near the midfield. Play was allowed to continue as Mercer countered and scored to tie things up at one goal apiece. 

In a game where physical play was being allowed with not many fouls called, the Wildcats battled through and eventually found pay dirt. In the 78th minute, Noah Louzan sprinted into the goalie box with possession before being tripped up by a Mercer player. After a few seconds had passed, the side referee stepped onto the pitch and waved the flag, signaling a penalty kick. Once awarded, Krioutchenkov stepped up to the spot and sent his attempt perfectly inside the upper left 90 to give Davidson the lead for good. 

Up Next
The ‘Cats will begin conference play this Saturday as they travel to Saint Joseph’s for a 1:00 p.m. kick.