CLEVELAND, Tenn. --- Lee University scored four second-half goals to defeat undermanned Tusculum University 4-0 in non-conference men's soccer action Saturday night at the Ray Conn Sports Complex.
The Flames (2-1-0) broke a scoreless tie in the 57th minute after the Pioneers lost a man to a yellow card in the first half, then scored three more goals in the final 15 minutes after a second Tusculum player was sent off.
Mattia Balzano scored two goals for the Flames, who outshot the Pioneers (1-2-0) by a 15-6 margin. The physical game featured 30 total fouls along with nine cards.
Tusculum nearly scored in the opening 90 seconds, but a cross was just played over the crossbar by Pedro Concheso. Moments later, Jean-Pierre Vital went just high over the crossbar from close range.
Lee had its first good chance at the four-minute mark, as Gui Busato avoided a defender but cranked a shot over the Tusculum crossbar. At five minutes, Busato had another great chance on a volley from 10 yards, but Tusculum keeper Bruno De Freitas was able to get his hands on the blast for the first save of the evening.
The Flames had a great chance in the 12th minute as Balzano got behind the defense and went in alone on De Freitas, but shot just wide of the near post. In the 25th minute, the Flames earned a corner kick but the header from Nick Meijboom was corraled by De Freitas.
The momentum swung into Lee's favor with 14:40 left in the first half when the Pioneers were forced a man down due to ejection. In the 37th minute, the Flames had a chance but Borja Gaspar slid a crossing pass wide of the frame.
In the second half, Tusculum got what would be its only shot on goal in the 50th minute as Levi Vasconcelos rolled an attempt to Lee keeper Sam Keener. Lee's first second-half shot was from Fabian Navarro in the 55th minute, and its second shot nearly broke the deadlock but De Freitas came out to smother a try from Balzano in the 57th minute.
Balzano would not be denied at 57:17 as he took a give-and-go pass from Busato behind the defense and flicked a shot past De Freitas for a 1-0 Flames lead.
Down a goal, the Pioneers earned a free kick in the 66th minute but the Flames defense blocked a shot attempt from inside the box by Vasconcelos. In the 73rd minute, Tusculum's Damien Baltide collected a loose ball in traffic at the top of the box and scorched a shot just wide of the far post.
Tusculum went another man down with 14:33 left when Gaspar was fouled hard after he got behind the defense. On the ensuing free kick, Jared McWhorter went to the near side past De Freitas from 25 yards out for a 2-0 Lee lead.
With Lee having a two-player advantage, the Flames had room to add to their lead, which Balzano did with 9:42 left off an assist by Gaspar for a 3-0 lead. Caio Arantes added a fourth goal for the Flames with just under three minutes left as he fired a shot from the top off the box off a feed from Teo Rodrigues.
De Freitas finished with four saves in goal for the Pioneers, while Keener had one save in 83 minutes for the Flames. Roel Martinez finished up the final seven minutes in relief of Keener.
Lee, which had eight shots on goal to one for Tusculum, also had a 4-0 edge in corner kicks in the match. The Flames were flagged five times for offsides while the Pioneers were not called once.
Tusculum will open its South Atlantic Conference schedule on Wednesday, Sept. 15 with a 3:30 p.m. match at Lincoln Memorial.