CLEVELAND, Tenn.-Led by senior midfielder Eamon McLaughlin's hat trick, the Lee men's soccer team wasted no time in getting out of the gate and opening the 2023 season with a convincing 3-1 victory over University of North Georgia at the Ray Conn Sports Complex on a near perfect Thursday evening.
McLaughlin, who scored only one goal in 2022, tallied all three goals in the win over the Nighthawks. Before the large crowd had gotten into their seats on Faculty/Staff Night, McLaughlin knocked his shot into the back of the net at the 1:47 mark. He came right back to get on the board again at 7:59 in the opening frame, giving the Flames a 2-0 advantage at the half. Fabian Navarro delivered the first assist and Ruben d'Hollosy was credited with the second assist.
McLaughlin went right back to work early in the second stanza. With just over seven minutes (52:11) showing on the scoreboard clock, the senior banged the back of the net on the second assist of the evening by Navarro, who picked right up where he left last season. The preseason All-GSC pick recorded nine assist last year.
The Nighthawks got on the board at the 73:42 mark. Max Garnett scored on an assist by Niguel Romero. The Flames fired 14 shots in the contest and placed seven on target. Lee's defense allowed North Georgia only seven shots with two on frame.
Lee used two in net. Goalkeeper Robert Bailey played 73:42 minutes and Jakob Buhrkuhl recorded just over 16 minutes of playing time. Bailey had one save. Hazel Ley was the Nighthawk keeper. He had four saves and allowed all three goals. Only four corner kicks were taken the entire evening. The Flames were awarded three and North Georgia one.
The rugged contest saw 22 fouls called on the Nighthawks and 16 on the Flames. The referee passed out seven yellow cards to the visitors and four to the Flames.
Lee jumps right back into the action on Saturday afternoon at 1:30 PM, traveling up in the mountains to Banner Elk, North Carolina and facing Chowan University. The Hawks dropped their season opener (2-0) to Lincoln Memorial on Thursday.
Coach Derek Potteiger's Thoughts:
"We talked as a team before the game and thought our pressure could create chances early. Sometimes it's easy to overlook those early chances and not take advantage but we tonight we made a difference."
"What a start from Eamon McLaughlin. He is all about the team performance. We told him before the game we wanted him to be more of a difference maker and he stepped up."
"We felt the crowd tonight. We loved it and it was a great opening night our thanks for all the support tonight."
