MOBILE, Ala. – The 24
th-ranked Spring Hill College (SHC) men's soccer team suffered a 2-1 non-conference loss to the 18
th-ranked University of West Florida (UWF) Argonauts on Saturday afternoon at Library Field.
The Argos (4-0) struck first in the 28
th minute of play when Jerry Wiltshire headed a goal past the Badger defense off a well-placed corner kick by Ed Chappe.
Spring Hill answered back in the 75
th minute with a tying goal off a header of their own from sophomore forward
Luca Carrese from Cascais, Portugal, via an assist by senior forward
Donte Oliver of New Orleans, La.
UWF found a way to answer back, however, when Chappe scored the deciding goal in the 81
st minute to hand the visitors from Pensacola a 2-1 lead that they maintained over the final minutes.
After the match, Badgers head coach
Steve Wieczorek was philosophical about the loss. "Another one goal game against a very good opponent," he said. "It continues to illustrate how important every moment of the game is at this level. We learned a lot about ourselves in the non-conference games and will grow stronger and more resilient for GSC play."
SHC sophomore goalkeeper
Alessandro Erdelyi (1-2) from Turin, Italy, made six saves against 18 shots with three corner kick by the Argos, while Jihad Gomes (4-0) of UWF collected four saves versus seven shots and four corner attempts by the Badgers.
The Badgers (2-2) next travel to Jackson, Tenn., on Friday to open Gulf South Conference (GSC) play at the Union University Bulldogs (2-1) in Smith Memorial Soccer Complex at 7:15 p.m.
