Justin Fojo's Philadelphia Blog

Justin is a junior midfielder from Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and boasts one of the teams top GPA's with a 3.8!

Thursday:
When we arrived in Philadelphia, the temperature was the first thing we all noticed. We all all immediately went for our "hoodies" and "CofC jackets." Taking that first breath of coolness suddenly set the mood for this trip. We started off admiring the old factories and historic ports thinking to ourselves of the history before us. After getting a bite to eat we met at the Independence Square downtown, seeing statues of Willam Penn, the Liberty Bell, and the lovely infrastructure within the city. My mates and I visited the famous "Rocky" memorial near the art museum and quickly emulated the great Rocky Balboa by running up the long flight of stairs, hoodies on and boxing thin air. It was great!

Friday:
Waking up buzzing with excitement for our new challenge the vibe seemed right, sharp and proper. We visited the wonderful Lehigh facility and were somewhat skeptical about the type of grass we weren't accostumed too. This night was slippery! We started off the game extremely flatfooted and slow to every ball. We did not high pressure like we can and as a result were being dominated for much of the first half. We came out in the second half fighting, hungry as ever and were starting to take control. We were winning air balls, playing more direct and keeping the ball in the attacking third and midfield. The night ended in a 2-3 loss but we went down fighting! We had to think about our next challenge....and that was it.

Saturday:
Sleep, recover, replenish, rehydrate and focus was my theme for the next day. It was great relaxing with my roomie Steven Nagy, listening to music, watching the tele and reading the autobiography on Steven Gerrard my coach suggested that I read! Eating good meals was great too, everyone on the team knows I can put down anything in front of me, I get jokes from the boys all the time. I got a chance to meet with Vernon Skinner, a man with a lot of football knowledge. He gave me advice on how to be a better player and how psychological the game can be. It was great talking to him! Night fell and my thoughts were purely about winning the game tomorrow.

Sunday:
We knew we had to get the "W" this game, that's why we flew up for this trip, to win! Entering Bucknell's facility my jaw dropped, I had never seen such a quality College level facility. This game was a true test of our commitment and devotion to our team. There was a lot to play for against Bucknell as our school's President and Athletic Director took the time to come see us play! It was an honor to play in front of President Benson and Joe Hull and get the result we wanted. I was humbled by this whole experience and it will definitely be a trip I always remember.

Cougars move to 5-0!

This past weekend we traveled to Greenville, SC and won the Furman Diadora/Spinx Invitational with wins over North Florida and Florida Gulf Coast. With the two wins we pushed our record to 5-0 on the season!

In the first match vs. North Florida we dictated the play early and Kareem Yearwood would create our first goal by outpacing the Osprey defense only to be brought down by their keeper for a penalty. Matt Morris stepped up to the spot and blasted home the penalty to give us a 1-0 lead. Sean Flatley then got forward from the left back position, collected a beautiful pass from Morris, and slammed home our second goal of the night. The final goal would come through Ralph Lundy dribbling past multiple defenders, playing a one-two with Yearwood, and calmly tucking the ball home. Goalkeepers Clark Hankins and Michael Flato combined with a solid Cougar defense for the 3-0 shutout win.

In the second match we faced a tough Florida Gulf Coast side, which tied Furman 2-2 in their first match. The first half saw us have better possession and more chances as we outshot our opponent 8-4. Unfortunately we failed to convert our opportunities and went into halftime tied at 0-0. Just three minutes into the second half Frannie Twohig slotted a great ball to Geordi Khoury who gave us the 1-0 lead. Florida Gulf Coast would find the equalizer at the 71st minute and the scored remained tied at 1-1- going into overtime. In double overtime Matt Morris earned us a free kick 22 yards out. Ralph Lundy stepped up and drove in a low shot that was followed up and finished by Twohig for the winner.

Furman Diadora/Spinx Invitational MVP Awards/All-Tournament Team
Offensive MVP- Matt Morris
Defensive MVP- Branko Gavric
All-Tournament Team- Justin Fojo, John Bello, Clark Hankins

Cougars Recognized on CollegeSoccerNews.com

College of Charleston junior Sean Flatley was named to the CollegeSoccerNews.com Team of the Week. This team highlights the top eleven performers in the nation. Congratulations Sean!

Our team also received votes to be in the Top 25 from CollegeSoccerNews.com. Hopefully we will continue to have success and push into the Top 25 next week.

Go Cougars!

Cougars Win Nike/Aaron Olitsky Memorial Soccer Classic

Today we knocked off a very good Old Dominion team to capture the 2009 Nike/Aaron Olitsky Memorial Soccer Classic.

Old Dominion came out very determined. They mixed a style of possession and power that were very tough for us to cope with in the first 15 minutes. At the 22nd mark of the first half senior John Bello notched his second goal of the year and this gave us some confidence throughout the rest of the half.

In the second half our defending was rock solid. We were determined all over the field to fight for one another and preserve the shutout. This is what won us the match. With 5 minutes remaining in the match Kareem Yearwood tallied his second goal of the year and sealed the win for the Cougars.

"Anyone that saw this match today realized how good of a team Old Dominion is," said head coach Ralph Lundy. "We had to step up and play at another level to win and we did just that. I'm proud of the entire team, especially with how hard we fought for 90 minutes."

Congratulations to Sean Flatley for being named the Hertz, McKay, Magel 2009 MVP award.

All-Tournament selections for the Cougars: Kareem Yearwood, Zach Prince, Branko Gavric, Shawn Ferguson

Cougars Win Opener

Tonight we opened up our 2009 season with a 4-3 defeat against Coastal Carolina at Patriots Point in front of a tremendous crowd of 1,200!

The match was a little sloppy and a tale of two halves. The first half saw the Cougars jump out to an early lead five minutes into the match off a goal by Sean Flatley. With less than 10 minutes left in the first half, Zach Prince took on two defenders and served a low cross that was met by Steven Nagy to push the score to 2-0. Throughout the majority of the first half, Charleston maintained the majority of possession and outshot the Chanticleers 8-2.

The beginning of the second half started well, as Kareem Yearwood finished a penetrating thru pass by Jake Helmig five minutes in to make it 3-0. Coastal Carolina did an excellent job of maintaining their focus and picked up the pressure on the Charleston defense. This pressure led to two penalties, both converted by Riley Phelps. At 3-2, John Bello tucked in a brilliant one touch pass from Prince to make the score 4-2. Coastal would not go away, as they answered with another Phelps goal with 10 minutes remaining.

"In the first half, we were very focused and we did a terrific job on both sides of the field," said head coach Ralph Lundy. "You have to give Coastal a lot of credit for not giving up after being down 3-0. I thought we lost our focus, but regardless if it's 4-0 or 4-3, it's a win and it's a great way to start the season."

Former Cougar Ready For USL-2 Championship

In his second professional season with the Charlotte Eagles, Darren Toby is ready to capture a league championship. This Saturday he will get that chance as the Eagles take on the Richmond Kickers at the University of Richmond Stadium at 8:00 PM. It be played on Fox Soccer Channel at 11:00 PM on tape delay.

Charlotte came close to winning in 2008, but fell short in the finals against Cleveland City. For Toby, this will be the ultimate stage to avenge the 08 loss and secure the league title. "First I just want to say that I'm blessed to be playing in the championship game, because not everyone has the opportunity to play in a USL finals," said Toby. "I'm excited and confident that my teammates and I are going to put our best foot forward. At the same time, I'm very humble and determined after losing in the finals last year."

Over the past two seasons Toby has been a staple in the Charlotte first eleven at the central midfield position. He ranks in the top three in overall minutes played for the Eagles this season. Eagles Head Coach Mark Steffens expressed, "Darren has been a joy to have on the team. His biggest strength is his ability to keep possession. He is so good with the ball that our guys make jokes about him having an off day when he makes one errant pass in training. His great possession rate in the back half of the field make it very hard for teams to press us because he helps us break pressure so easily. The second half of the season he has come on strong as a ball winner. We now put him on the other teams best attacking MF and Darren usually shuts him down. He has also really developed as a player who wins almost every aerial battle he encounters. I believe he is one of the top midfielders in the USL.
Of course he needs to have one more great game for us to win it all."

Best of luck and we are pulling for you Toby!

Southern Conference Preseason Poll/All Conference Nominations

The College of Charleston men’s soccer team was picked to finish in a tie for second in the 2009 Southern Conference Preseason Poll as voted on by the league’s eight head coaches. The Cougars garnered 40 votes in the balloting and two first place votes, placing them in a tie with Furman.

Meanwhile, forwards Matt Morris (Anderson, S.C.) and Kareem Yearwood (Sou Sou Lands, Tobago) were named to the Preseason All-Southern Conference team. For Yearwood, this marks the second consecutive season that he has been named to the Preseason All-Conference squad.

Coach Lundy expressed, "This is great recognition and respect for Kareem and Matt, as well as our program. To have two players nominated for all-conference and our team picked to finish 2nd is a good thing, but with this recognition comes expectations. We must meet these expectations and then go beyond them."

Yearwood stated, "I feel honored to be mentioned in the preseason all conference team. I'm excited for the new season ahead. We have a good team again this year and should definitely be contending for the Southern Conference championship at the end of the year."

Defending regular season SoCon champion Elon was voted first in the poll after receiving 44 votes and four first place votes, while defending SoCon Tournament champion UNC Greensboro was slotted in fourth position with 33 votes.

The Cougars return 14 letterwinners and 10 starters from a season ago. Last year, the Cougars with a record of 11-10 overall, 3-4-0 in the conference and advanced to the finals of the Southern Conference tournament.

Morris, a senior, has served as one of the team’s Co-Captains for the last two seasons. In 2008 Morris still ended the season as the team’s statistical leader with 19 points and nine goals despite having to battle several injuries. For his career, Morris has scored 16 goals and recorded six assists.

Yearwood, also a senior, has been one of the conference’s top goal scorers the last two seasons, registering 18 goals (eight of which were game-winners). Last season, Yearwood scored seven goals and for his efforts was named to the All-Southern Conference and All-South Region team for the second consecutive season.

Charleston opens their 2009 season on Tuesday, Sept. 1 when they take on Coastal Carolina at Patriots Points Soccer Stadium. Game time is set for 7 p.m.