Neff's throw-ins set stage for Mustangs to win over Tuscola

The Mustangs (10-5-1, 6-5-1) moved ahead of Tuscola and into fourth place in the MAC.

"We feel like we're continuing to come together pretty well," Coach Dolphus Brown said. "Tuscola plays us tough."

SM struck quickly as Cory Carpenter headed a Neff throw-in into the net from 10 yards out just 1:05 into the game.

"It was one of the prettiest goals we've seen," Brown said. "Then we felt we didn't need to play any more."

The Mounties tied it 1-1 when Charlie Carswell ripped a free kick into the net from 20 yards out at the 17-minute mark.

"They dominated some stretches of the first half," the coach said. "We were getting beat to the ball."

The Mustangs still managed to take a 2-1 edge to the dressing room at intermission as Eric McManus scored with two minutes left in the half. A Neff throw-in started the play. Silas Webb one-touched the ball to McManus, who scored from 8 yards out.

"We needed that to lift us a little bit," Brown said.

Tuscola had an 11-7 edge in shots at halftime. That narrowed to 25-24 by the time the game ended.

"We were lucky to be ahead 2-1 at halftime because we felt Tuscola had outplayed us for the most part," the coach said.

Neff's third assist of the game also came on a throw-in. Stephen Brown was left unmarked on the back post and scored from 5 yards out for a 3-0 lead at the 55:30 mark.

Willie Mojica had the final goal with a minute to play. He took a diagonal pass from McManus, collected the ball and scored from 15 yards out.

"We played a solid second half," Coach Brown said. "We took control of the 50-50s and established a bit of a passing game."

Will Peoples made 15 saves for SM, and Tuscola's Justin Scarbrough had 11.

"Will Peoples kept us in the game early with several nice saves," the coach said. "He also made some key saves early in the second half."

The Mustangs played without Damon Houghton, who had received a red card in the previous game. "Damon is huge for us," Coach Brown said of his stopper. "He had a great game against them over there. We challenged our players to close ranks and step up. They responded tremendously."

Webb moved to Houghton's stopper position, and Paul Van Der Ven took over Webb's spot at left fullback. The coach said Van Der Ven performed very well and is probably the most improved player in the program.

Also singled out for their play were Carpenter, Matt Taylor and Michael Tennant.

The Mustang JVs fell to 2-9 with a 4-0 loss. They trailed 2-0 at halftime.

"I think Tuscola was a little bigger and a little stronger," Coach Bo Carpenter said. "I was pleased with our effort."

Back to Sports: 10/11/01.