Senior Quade Marinell opened his final season on the pitch for the Lee men's soccer team in grand style as he struck for the game winning goal with just two minutes remaining to send Lee to a thrilling 2-1 opening night victory over Illinois Springfield on Thursday evening from the Lee Soccer Field.

With the clock ticking down it appeared the contest was heading for overtime before the Flames were finally able to breakthrough in the 88th minute as sophomore Jose Orellana delivered the ball to Marinell who finished off the Illinois club with his second goal of the night.

"I can take a nice deep breath," exclaimed head coach Paul Furey after the match. "It was certainly a thrilling game to open up the season for our home fans. What can I say about Quade, he's been a fantastic player for us the last four years."

Marinell started the scoring as well for the Flames as he gave the home team the early advantage in the first half scoring off a David Perez cross in the 17th minute. Lee would hold the lead until the final 30 seconds of the opening half when Zach Allevi chipped a shot over the keeper to tie things up at 1-1.

"It's an unbelievable feeling to be out here, I feel true blessed to be able to demonstrate my God-given abilities to these fans and my teammates," said Marinell after the victory. "We came in and worked very hard during preseason to get ready for this match. We have freshmen playing beyond their years, they are very soccer mature and we have full confidence in them."

The second half was a seesaw battle as the Prairie Stars appeared to grab the lead right out of the locker room but a foul call took the score off the board. Lee would counter with several scoring chances that were turned away by Illinois Springfield's keeper Tommy Geile. The agile goalie registered eight saves in the contest.

"Their (Illinois Springfield) goalkeeper played fantastic tonight and had two or three phenomenal saves," noted Furey. "They are a really good team and made us earn it tonight so I wish them all the best the rest of the year." 

Junior-transfer Tristen Putnam had two saves and allowed just the one goal for Lee to earn his first victory. Putnam, a native of Forney, Texas, replaces four-year stalwart keeper Tom Halsall in the back of the net for the Flames.

Furey's club tallied 10 shots in the match and placed two on frame while Illinois Springfield was credited with just three shots and had one on goal. Lee earned seven corners while the Prairie Stars generated five.

With several new faces joining the Lee squad Furey was encouraged by the play of his youngsters, "I'm encouraged with the way our guys played. We have a number of really good young players and we are just trying to find the right mix to get those guys in and give them meaningful minutes." 

The annual Lee Olive Garden Invitational will conclude on Saturday night from the Lee Soccer Field as Auburn Montgomery looks to avenge a 9-1 loss to Lynn when they play Illinois Springfield at 4:30 p.m. The Flames will test the No. 25 Fighting Knights in the nightcap at 7 p.m.