MOBILE, Ala. (October 17, 2021) – The Spring Hill College (SHC) men's soccer team scored a sudden-death "Golden Goal" in the 91
st minute of play to take a thrilling 1-0 Gulf South Conference (GSC) victory over the Lee University Flames (8-4; 4-3 GSC) at Library Field on Sunday afternoon.
Both teams fought tooth-and-nail for the entirety of the 90 minutes of regulation play only to find themselves still deadlocked at nil-nil and headed into a 10-minute overtime period.
Spring Hill needed just 40 seconds of overtime play, however, as forward
Carlos Fernandes lifted a perfectly placed entry pass from the right side into the face of the goal where senior midfielder
Matthew Moreno headed in the game-winner to stun the visitors from Cleveland, Tenn.
Badger goalkeeper
Alessandro Erdelyi (8-5) made two saves against 12 shots and six corner kicks by the Flames while Lee's Sam Keener (8-4) made three saves versus nine shots and three corner attempts from SHC.
After a triumphant celebration on the field, SHC head coach
Chris Leonardi beamed from his team's performance. "This is our most complete game of the year and it came at a perfect time," he said. "The boys knew coming into today that this was going to be a tough game and that they needed to step up to the competition. From Alessandro in the goal, to our back line, and all the guys out there, I couldn't be happier. We got a much needed six-point weekend and now we will get ready for Senior Day next weekend."
Today's win moved the Badgers into 4
th place in the GSC standings and currently puts them in the final spot to host a first round conference tournament game with just three GSC matches left in the season. The win also gives the Badger men five consecutive wins over the Flames to tie the all-time series between the rivals at six wins apiece.
The Badgers (8-5; 4-4 GSC) will step out of conference play on Saturday when they host the Florida Southern College (FSC) Moccasins (3-6-3) at Library Field beginning at 1 p.m. Before the match at 12:45, the Badgers will honor their Senior Class teammates with the annual Senior Day ceremony.
