Banged up and certainly bruised from a rugged two-overtime battle with West Florida on Friday evening, the Lee men's soccer reloaded and turned back defensive-minded Spring Hill College, 3-0, in a Gulf South Conference (GSC) contest on a delightful Sunday afternoon at the Lee Soccer Field.
"It is nice to get the first conference win," said Lee head man Paul Furey. "We played fairly well and earned our third consecutive shutout."
Lee's first score came in the 21st minute on a penalty kick off the foot of Garrison Adams. It was his second goal of the season. The tally remained the same at halftime and rocked into the 63rd minute before David Perez delivered a perfect assist to Quade Marinell. It was Marinell's fifth goal of the year and gave the Flames all the breathing room they needed.
With coach Furey going to his bench freely. the Flames put a little icing on the victory cake in the 88th minute when Travis Kiger got his second score of the season by hustling deep into the box and getting the ball delivered on time from Marinell.
The Flames took 15 shots and put six between the bars. The Badgers got 11 shots and had three on target.Lee keeper Tom Halsall had three saves in the win. Daniel Patrick had two saves before being injured and Jacob Files came in to record one save for Spring Hill.
The victory moves Lee's overall mark to 6-2-2 and 1-0-1 in the GSC. Spring Hill, a new member of the conference in soccer, dropped to 2-7-0 overall and 1-3-0 in league play.
Coach Furey is well aware that things could get even tougher next weekend. The Flames will visit West Alabama on Friday and move over to 21st-ranked Alabama-Huntsville on Sunday. "We know the road will get tough as we travel to the Alabama schools," noted the coach. "Hopefully we will have everyone back and healthy."
