MOBILE, Ala. (September 3, 2021) – The Spring Hill College men's soccer team opened the 2021 regular season on Friday evening with a physical 2-1 non-conference victory over the Tusculum University Pioneers on Friday evening at Library Field.
The Badgers jumped out early on the Pioneers (0-1) when
Matthew Moreno punched in a goal off a corner kick by
Diogo Sousa from the right side in the 2
nd minute of play. Moreno later added an assist of his own to the totals with an entry to
Luca Carrese in the 31
st minute.
SHC controlled the action throughout the first half, narrowly missing taking a 3-0 lead into halftime while outshooting Tusculum 10-2.
The second period was more balanced as Tusculum halved their deficit in the 71
st minute via a goal from Levi Vasconcelos after a pass from Michele Di Miele following a corner attempt by Marc Caceres.
Tusculum gave the Badger fans heart palpitations twice late in the contest as two close in attempts rebounded off the crossbar for the Pioneers, but the Badgers hung tough and successfully milked away the final 10 minutes with a solid defensive effort.
"The nature of the game is set pieces," said SHC head coach
Chris Leonardi. "We scored twice off set pieces and their goal came off a set piece. We probably should have been up 3-0 early, but that happens and you have to maintain focus. I think we let Tusculum regain themselves for a while there. I'm very proud of our boys today and we succeeded in the end. We have seen what we need to clean up especially in the second half. It's nice to get started with a win, but it's time to move on and get better."
The victory marks Leonardi's first win in SHC purple after taking the reins of the Badgers in April.
SHC keeper
Alessandro Erdelyi (1-0) picked up the win with four saves against 12 shots and 7 corners while Bruno DeFreitas (0-1) took the loss with 3 saves also against 12 shots and 7 corners.
The Badgers (1-0) will next face NAIA opponent the Faulkner University Eagles (0-3) from Montgomery on Monday beginning at 1 p.m. on Library Field.
