MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The Lee men's soccer team made history on Tuesday evening as the club secured the program's first Gulf South Conference Tournament victory with a 1-0 shutout at Christian Brothers.
After a scoreless first half Samaan Williams sent the Flames to the GSC semifinals as he connected on his team-leading seventh goal of the season in the 66
th minute to break a scoreless tie.
The Lee defense dug in from there and turned away the Bucs over the final 24 minutes to secure the program's first GSC postseason win.
The Flames dominated the match from a statistical standpoint, holding a 22-8 advantage in shots and a 9-2 edge in shots on goal.
"I am so proud of this group of guys tonight. That was a big game, and every one of our guys stepped up in a big way. We were really confident heading into this game as we liked the match up and didn't mind playing at their place at all; but I think some folks on the outside may have felt like our results over the last few weeks were pointing to some sort of weakness," said head coach Derek Potteiger. " In fact, we learned some key things about ourselves in those games that sometimes you don't see when you are on a good stretch of winning games and so we actually felt great internally that we could give our best performance of the year tonight, and we did."
Daniel Hrenko, fresh off being named to the All-GSC First Team with fellow defenders Jake Brown and Samir Williams, kept his sixth clean sheet of the year to go along with two saves. Hrenko and the Lee defense have allowed the fewest goals (16) in the league this season.
CBU keeper Viktor Hoestbo kept the match close thanks to his eight saves.
"The guys not only were sharp in each phase of the game, as I thought we dictated most of the game, but they competed for one another, and were tuned into the small details that decide a game like that," noted Potteiger. "We are in a good place as a group, and though we do need to take time to recover physically, we will be ready to play come Friday night."
The Flames improve to 9-6-3 on the year and will take on No. 1 seed and regular season champion, Spring Hill College on Friday in the GSC Semifinals from Montgomery, Ala. The championship will be held on Sunday.
