McManus' goal in final seconds lifts SM to victory in last game

It was the second goal for McManus in the final four minutes as the Mustangs finished the year 14-8-1. They were fourth in the Mountain Athletic Conference at 9-6-1, one game behind Franklin for the final playoff spot.

"What a wonderful way to end the game," Coach Dolphus Brown said. "It's great to win a game like that."

The game-winning play started when Cory Carpenter attempted a shot that Enka keeper Tyler Miller dove to his right for. The ball deflected to McManus on the other side. Miller dove to his left but was unable to stop the short shot by McManus from 3 yards out. McManus was injured on the play when he and Miller collided. After being down a few moments, he came off the field under his own power.

"If there ever was a blood and guts goal, I guess that was it," Brown said. "He just stayed his ground and made a nice play."

Dustin Daltin scored both Enka goals. The first came with three minutes left in the first half. Brown said SM keeper Will Peoples made a nice save on a shot but was unable to gather the ball. A Mustang defender failed to rotate back to the far post, and Daltin knocked the ball in from 5 yards out. "That sort of dampened our (Senior Night) halftime ceremony a little bit," Brown said.

The Mustangs tied it 1-1 at the 45:30 mark on Eric Neff's shot to the far post from 12 yards out.

"He dribbled through about three people, and it ended up just him and the keeper," the coach said.

Daltin put the Jets up 2-1 at the 58:30 mark with a goal from 7 yards out. Brown said a breakdown in the midfield led to the goal. It came after a pass was deflected, but the Mustangs failed to clear the ball.

"On both of their goals we did not defend the near post," Brown said.

McManus evened the count 2-2 with four minutes left. The ball was being knocked around in front of the net, and he came up with a deflection to score from 6 yards out.

SM had a 13-9 advantage in shots. Peoples had four saves for SM, and Enka's Miller made seven.

"We did not make the playoffs and that was a huge disappointment, but I was proud of the guys," Brown said.

The Mustang JVs conclude the year 4-10 with a 3-0 win. They finishing strong with victories in two of their last three games against teams they had lost to earlier in the season.

Bryan Mand, Jonathan Painter and Eddie Noell scored the goals. Nicholas Savell was singled out for his play at stopper.

Back to Sports: 11/01/01.