CLEVELAND, Tenn. - Displaying speed and physical soccer, the Lee University men scored an impressive 3-1 victory over visiting University of Findlay (Ohio) at the Ray Conn Sports Complex on a sunny but breezy Sunday afternoon. The win improved the Flames to 2-0 as they venture to Ohio to face Cedarville and Ohio Dominican universities on Thursday and Saturday.
Findlay came to Cleveland to open its 2025 season. The Oilers were 12-4-5 last season and claimed their first Great Midwest Athletic Conference Championship and placed in the top 16 of the NCAA DII National Championship.
Findlay and Lee battled to a physical 0-0 draw after 45 minutes of play. The Flames regrouped and quickly opened up the second stanza on the first of his two goals by talented freshman forward Nicolas Napoli. The unassisted goal came at the 47:50 mark.
In the 56th minute (56:38) the Flames jumped out to a 2-0 advantage on senior forward Marcos Garcia's score. The assist came off the foot of senior forward Daniel Garvilla.
The Oilers cut the margin to 2-1 with a spectacular goal by Leo Egerer in the 68th minute (68:27). His goal came after Tyler Pawlicki delivered a high well-placed throw-in into the box and Egerer headed the ball into the back of the net.
The Flames put the victory away in the 89th minute (89:29) when Napoli thrilled the fans with his second unassisted goal to put Lee up 3-1. The Flames outshot the Oilers 12-6 and were on target with eight of their shots. Findlay had two shots on goal and one for a score.
The Lee defenders and midfielders kept the Oilers in check for most of the contest allowing freshman goalkeeper Charles Carriglitto to finish with only one save. On the other side, Findlay's Keegan Grant came away with five saves. The Flames domination of the contest saw the Oilers getting awarded no corner kicks while Lee had four.
The physical play saw a total of 29 fouls whistled. Findlay was called 16 and Lee 13. The referee passed out four yellow cards, two to each side.
Coach Derek Potteiger's Thoughts:
"It was a tough game to hold onto because of the wind. It was a really good test for us today and we needed that. We have some pieces that can find the back of the net and we are confident in that. It's now going ot be good for our team to go on the road and spend several days together and face to good teams in Ohio."
