MOBILE, Ala. (September 22, 2021) – The Spring Hill College (SHC) men's soccer team took a 3-1 non-conference victory over the Thomas University Night Hawks on Wednesday afternoon at Library Field.
Originally scheduled as an August preseason match, the game was rescheduled as a regular season Wednesday contest due to Hurricane Ida.
The Night Hawks (3-2) and the Badgers played their cards close to their vests in the early going with midfielders and defenders feeling out the opposing sides.
Joao Amaral of SHC would end the back-and-forth with a score in the 21
st minute off an assist from
Carlos Fernandes.
SHC took control of the 2
nd period by landing back-to-back haymakers. First,
Matthew Moreno blasted a dead on shot into the center of the goal from 12 yards out in the 55
th minute after
Albert Vila Truco found him at the top of the box with a pass from the left side. Then, Amaral struck again just a minute later by cleaning up a blocked shot from Fernandes.
With the match all but over, Thomas would find a goal in the 83
rd minute as Joao Pedro Vinha used the rebound of a blocked shot by Regan McLaren to slip a ball past SHC relief goalkeeper
Fabian Keiblinger.
In his 62 minutes in goal, SHC starting keeper
Alessandro Erdelyi (5-2) did not have to make a save versus three shots and just one corner kick by the Night Hawks while Keiblinger made one save versus two shots in 28 minutes. Stephen Douglas of Thomas earned five saves against 14 shots and eight corners by the Badgers.
After the match, SHC head coach
Chris Leonardi praised his team's efforts. "We have played three matches in six days and that's a lot of minutes," he said. "So to come out and play as well as we did is good for us."
Leonardi emphasized his team's second half play as the key to the victory. "We had a 1-0 lead at halftime," he said. "But I told the guys that we are just one slip up away from a tie ballgame, so we can't let up. We have to keep being smart and playing hard and that's what they did by quickly expanding the lead to 3-0."
The Badgers (4-2; 1-1 GSC) now take a week off to prepare for a Friday, October 1, Gulf South Conference (GSC) home match with the Christian Brothers University (CBU) Buccaneers at 1 p.m. on Library Field. Usually coaches do not like to take breaks when their team is playing as well as the Badgers have over the past week, but Leonardi is happy for some time off. "This is just what the doctor ordered," he laughed. "We need some recovery time before a big weekend versus two very good teams in CBU and Union."
