MOBILE, Ala. – The Spring Hill College (SHC) men's soccer team scuffled to a 3-1 Gulf South Conference (GSC) victory over the Shorter University (SU) Hawks at Library Field on Thursday afternoon, snapping a five-match losing skid.
 
SHC jumped out front 1-0 in the 13^th minute of play when senior defender Matthew Moreno of Northplainfield, N.J., accepted a pass from freshman midfielder Joao Amaral from Lisbon, Portugal, and subsequently drilled the back of the net against the Hawks (4-5-1, 0-3-1 GSC) for his first goal of the season.
 
Heading into the intermission, the Badgers were out-shooting the Hawks 6-3 with two corner kicks by each team.
 
Four minutes into the second half, a header goal into the upper right corner by Shorter's Bailey Lopez off a crossing entry into the box by Thallison Alex made it a new game, knotting the score at 1-1.
 
The Badgers would respond with a header goal of their own four minutes later when junior defender Vassil Kokali from Rome, Italy, put the ball into the lower right corner off a free kick into the box by senior forward Alex Lipinski from Krefeld, Germany. Lipinski handed out his second assist of the day in the 72^nd minute when his shot was deflected by the SU keeper only to be cleaned up into the lower left corner by fellow senior forward Donte Oliver of New Orleans, La.
 
SHC sophomore keeper Alessandro Erdelyi (2-5) from Turin, Italy, made seven saves against 13 shots and three corner kicks by the Hawks. Across the field, Matthew Shorrocks (2-3-1) of Shorter collected seven saves versus 17 shots and seven corner attempts by the Badgers.
 
After the contest, SHC head coach Steve Wieczorek was proud of his team's resiliency. "We went back to our identity today and found the goals that we have been craving in the previous games," he said. "I'm pleased with the overall effort and intensity, but there is still more work ahead to be done."
 
The victory also snapped a five-game losing streak by the Badgers – the longest SHC run of losses since 2016.
 
The Badgers (3-6, 1-4 GSC) next visit conference rival the Lee University Flames (6-1-2, 2-0-1 GSC) at Lee Soccer Field in Cleveland, Tenn., on Sunday at 3 p.m. (east). Since 2004, the series stands at 5-4 in favor of the Flames, but the Badgers have won the last three meetings while six matches have been decided by just one goal.