Alfie Coldron scored early and Craig Quinn struck late to give the Lee men's soccer team a 2-0 victory over rival Shorter University on a crisp Friday evening at Lee Soccer Field.
Coldron, who scored the lone goal in Sunday's victory at Union, curled a shot into the top right corner of the goal to give the Flames the early advantage at the 14:40 mark.
Tristen Putnam and the Lee defense would make the lead stick as they posted their fourth shutout of the season. Putnam was credited with one save and is now second in the Gulf South Conference with a tidy 0.64 goals against average.
Craig Quinn scored his first goal as Flame to put the finishing touches on the victory in the 89
th minute. The junior-transfer from Glasgow, Scotland chipped a shot over the drawn out keeper with just the right to touch to find the back of the net.
"I thought it was really a tale of two halves. I thought we were really sharp in the first half and moved the ball really well and created a lot of dangerous chances on the outside," said head coach Derek Potteiger. "I thought we got a bit complacent in the second half and that something that has bit us a number of times this season so we need to fix that but obviously it was big for Craig to get that second half goal and that made us breathe a little easier there at the end."
The Flames outshot the Hawks 13-7 and put six shots on frame. The stingy Lee defense allowed just one corner kick and one shot on goal in the contest.
"The defensive has taken that banner for us and been really consistent. At times offensively we have been inconsistent but the defensive has been rock solid and really embraced a team mentality to shutting down the oppostion. It of course starts with Tristen but I thought they all played really well tonight," noted Potteiger.
Shorter goalkeeper Sean Carpenter allowed the pair of goals and tallied four saves to fall to 2-5 on season in net.
Adding a bit of intrigue to the rivalry was the return of coach Paul Furey, who led the Flames from 2011-2016 before joining the Shorter program in the spring.
The victory moves Lee to 4-3-2 on the year and 3-2 in league play. Shorter falls to 3-7 overall and is now 2-3 in conference action.
The Flames will get a much needed rest in the middle of the schedule as they will travel to Spring Hill College on Thursday. Lee returns home for a matchup with West Florida on Sunday, Oct. 8 at 4 p.m.
