CLEVELAND, Tenn.- Three first half goals from the Lee University men's soccer team was enough to guide them to the opening win of the Gulf South Conference slate on Friday night. The Flames beat the University of West Alabama 3-1 to earn their second win of the season. With the win, Lee improved to 2-2-1 on the season while UWA fell to 2-2-1.
 
Just nine minutes into the contest, the Flames had a counterattack. Marlon Grossman led the charge and found a streaking Ryan Chouyouti who slotted it into the back right corner to give Lee the 1-0 lead.
 
About seven minutes later the Flames doubled the lead on another counterattack as Nick Lu played one over the top for Marlon Grossman who easily made it 2-0. The final goal of the first half came as Carson Haiflich received a pass from Marcos Garcia to give the Flames a three-goal lead in the 34^th minute.
 
The second half saw fewer chances for both team as the Flames settle in defensively and not allow UWA to get in rhythm. The Tigers did final get on the board in the 83^rd minute when Ellis Williamson took a wild shot from a tough angle and made it 3-1. Lee held off more pressure from the Tigers to take the win.
 
UWA took more shots (9) than Lee did (7) but the Flames converted three of their five shots on goal.
 
Jakob Buhrkuhl made two more saves in goal while the Flames committed 12 fouls to the Tigers 16. Four total yellow cards were handed out in the contest.
 
The Flames will continue the homestand with another GSC matchup on Sunday. Lee will host the University of Alabama in Huntsville at 3:30 at the Ray Conn Sports Complex.
 
Coach Derek Potteiger's Thoughts:
 
"I thought we had a really good plan for this game. We had an entire week to prepare. We haven't gotten all the results this year but we have performed well. We really needed this and the guys were invested in getting the result."