CLEVELAND, Miss. – Thanks to a hat trick from junior David Perez the No. 15 Lee men's soccer team defeated Gulf South Conference foe Delta State, 5-3 on Friday afternoon.
Perez now has 14 goals on the season and has been named the GSC Offensive Player of the Week on four occasions.
The Dalton, Ga. native wasted little time getting going as he scored just 2:22 into the match. Perez would come right back at the 14:14 mark to give the Flames a 2-0 lead. Quade Marinell set things up with the assist.
The Statesmen would cut the lead in half on a goal by Austin Jackman in the 29th minute. Nicolas Garrido provided the assist.
Lee would answer right back as Perez struck for his third goal of the half on an assist from Jose Orellena.
"I really liked the way we came out of the gate today," said head coach Paul Furey. Jake (Molony) did a great job closing down on their defense and DP (Perez) took advantage of it.
After the intermission the Flames would extend the lead to 5-1 on goals from Matt Brady and Molony.
Nicolas Garrido and Jaxon Lambert recorded goals in the second period for the Statesmen to cut into the deficit but the mountain was too big to climb.
"It was a solid first half for us. DP gave us great production and we really played well overall. We weren't as sharp in the second half but still were able to secure three points on the road," Furey added.
Lee keeper Tom Halsall was credited with one save while allowing three goals in 66 minutes of work. Jake Huffaker came on to work the final 24:35 and registered two saves. DSU goalie Hauenstein tallied 10 saves and worked the full 90 minutes.
The Flames stayed on the attack throughout the match with 21 shots, 15 coming on frame. The Statesmen were limited to 10 shots and put six on goal. Lee earned four corners while the home team settled for one.
The win moves the Flames to 9-2-2 on the year and 4-0-1 in league play. The loss drops Delta State to 5-8 overall and 2-4 in the GSC.
Lee will stay in the Magnolia State to battle Mississippi College on Sunday afternoon at 4:30 p.m.
