MOBILE, Ala. (October 23, 2021) – The Spring Hill College (SHC) men's soccer team celebrated a 2-0 non-conference victory over the Florida Southern College (FSC) Moccasins (4-7-3) with both goals appropriately coming from seniors
Matthew Moreno and
Sacha Ducreux at Library Field on Saturday afternoon.
The two teams were locked in a defensive battle throughout the first half as the Badgers managed to get off just five shots before the intermission and the Moccasins only found enough space for four attempts.
The tide turned in favor of the Badgers in the 69
th minute when Moreno drove home a successful penalty kick for a 1-0 lead after the referee whistled FSC for a foul in the goalkeeper's box. The score gave Moreno a team-leading seventh goal in the 2021 season and tied him for fifth on the SHC all-time goals-scored list with 16.
Ducreux, a midfielder from Saint-Etienne, France, then put the bow on the win with his first career goal from 15 yards out off an entry from Moreno just two minutes later. Moreno's assist put him at third on the Badger all-time assists list at 17 and fifth on the program's all-time points-scored list with 49.
Badger senior goalkeeper
Alessandro Erdelyi (9-5) recorded his third shutout of the year with two saves against 10 shots and eight corner kicks by the Moccasins while FSC's Mars Gohier (4-6-3) made five saves versus 13 shots and nine corner attempts from SHC.
The normally stone-faced SHC head coach
Chris Leonardi was all smiles after the contest. "What a senior day for the guys with Sacha scoring his first-ever goal at SHC in such a fashion," he said grinning with pride. "Mathew was once again clutch and Alessandro kept us at 0-0 at the half. I am so happy for this whole senior class to walk out a winner on their day. Florida Southern College is a good side and it was a tough game."
He then immediately got back to business by concluding, "We will enjoy the rest of the weekend and refocus towards the conference when we are back training on Monday."
The Badgers (9-5; 4-4 GSC) will return to Gulf South Conference (GSC) play on Friday when they travel to Clinton, Miss. to face the Mississippi College (MC) Choctaws (7-4-1; 4-2-1 GSC) at Robert P. Longabaugh Field beginning at 3:30 p.m. With SHC standing at sixth and MC at fourth in the log-jammed GSC, Friday's match will be crucial in deciding seeding in the 8-team conference tournament as well as which team will enjoy home field advantage in the first round.
