GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Guillermo Lazcano broke a scoreless tie with a penalty kick in the 77th minute and 7th-ranked Tusculum College went on to defeat Mars Hill University 2-1 in South Atlantic Conference men's soccer action Friday night at Pioneer Field.
Andre De Giorgi scored his 11th goal of the season in the 86th minute and the Pioneers withstood a late goal from the Lions to remain as one of two undefeated, untied teams in Division II at 12-0-0. The Pioneers also moved back into a tie atop the SAC standings with Wingate at 7-0-0, pending the fourth-ranked Bulldogs' match Saturday night at home against Carson-Newman.
The match was evenly played by both squads, as Tusculum used a late burst of offense to finish with a 14-9 advantage in shots. Mars Hill (5-8-0, 3-5-0 SAC) scored its only goal with 52 seconds left when Franck Lannaud put home a corner kick off the foot of Adnan Saltagic to cut the Pioneer lead to 2-1.
The best scoring chance of the first half came with 25 seconds remaining, when the Pioneers' Jonathan Spicher put a header on frame that Lion keeper Kristopher Wennin was able to save to keep the match scoreless. Mars Hill had a 5-4 edge in shots in the opening half, with both Wennin and Pioneer keeper Jorge Alvarez finishing with two saves.
The teams continued to play tight defense on each other, and the scoreless draw continued into the 77th minute when a Mars Hill defender handled the ball 10 yards from the goal. Lazcano stepped to the spot and drilled home his second penalty of the season to give the Pioneers a 1-0 lead with 13:52 left.
Tusculum nearly tacked on another goal about a minute later, but Andreas Kvam fired a shot just wide of the far post. Kvam had another chance in the 83rd minute that also went wide, keeping the Pioneer lead at 1-0.
The game was delayed for nearly 25 minutes with 5:24 left when Mars Hill midfielder Amine Merdjett and Alvarez collided in pursuit of the ball. Merdjett sustained a lower-body injury and was stabilized by members of the athletic training staff before being transported by ambulance for treatment.
When play resumed, De Giorgi cashed in on a cross at the top of the box from Kvam for his team-high 11th goal of the season which gave the Pioneers a 2-0 edge. The goal proved important when Lannaud netted his fifth goal of the year from close range with just under a minute left, but the Pioneers were able to run out the clock to remain undefeated.
Both Alvarez and Wennin finished with three saves in goal in the match, while Mars Hill had a 7-6 edge in corner kicks. The Pioneers were called for 12 fouls to nine by the Lions, with each team being flagged twice for offsides.
Tusculum will prepare for a trip to Jefferson City to face rival Carson-Newman on Wednesday, Oct. 19 at 7:30 p.m., one of three road matches among the four games left on the Pioneer schedule.
