GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Four different players scored goals for Mars Hill University as the Lions defeated Tusculum University 4-2 in South Atlantic Conference men's soccer action at Pioneer Field Sunday afternoon.
The Pioneers (1-3-1, 0-1-1 SAC), playing in their home opener, received goals from Ignacio Alconchel and Rodrigo Pascual in the second half, but could not overcome a 2-0 halftime deficit to the Lions (3-2-1, 1-1-0 SAC). Mars Hill had just nine shots in the match but scored twice in each half against Tusculum, which had 10 shots as a team.
Kevonte Willoughby-Williams had a goal and an assist for Mars Hill, with goals from Dan Roth, Sebastian Bertilsson and Peter Plougmand. Brennan Whalen needed just one save to earn the win for the Lions, while Bruno De Freitas made three saves for the Pioneers.
Neither team had a shot attempt until the 12th minute, when Tusculum's Ira Heppard took a long shot that was caught by Whalen for his only save of the afternoon. The Pioneers had another chance on a free kick in the 16th minute, but a header by Jean-Pierre Vital went wide of the target.
Mars Hill did not have a shot attempt until a fluky goal in the 23rd minute. Tusculum keeper De Freitas came out to attempt to cut off a breaking Mars Hill player, but on his slide the ball went to Roth near midfield, and his chip from 50 yards bounced once and into the goal for a 1-0 Lions lead at 22:57.
The Pioneers thought they had tied the score off a free kick in the 37th minute, but the flag went up for offsides just as Lucas Romeiro knocked home the ball in front of Whalen. Mars Hill then took advantage of a breakout with just under five minutes left in the half, as Willoughby-Williams took a pass behind the defense and crossed to Bertilsson, who fired home his sixth goal of the season at 40:04.
Tusculum got on the scoreboard at 48:52 as a short cross from the right side by Vital went to the head of Alconchel, who put home his fourth of the season to cut the Mars Hill lead to 2-1. Willoughby-Williams nearly restored the Lions' two-goal lead less than a minute later on a break down the left side, but his shot went off the far post.
Mars Hill converted on a corner kick in the 56th minute to take a 3-1 lead, as Jeppe Christensen's service came to Willoughby-Williams, who put home his fifth of the young season for a 3-1 lead at 55:19. Mars Hill nearly went up 4-1 in the 62nd minute, but De Freitas came up with back-to-back stops on attempts by Roth and Willoughby-Williams.
The Lions would make it 4-1 at 70:57 as a long pass from Tatum Cartner went to Plougmand down the right side, and he beat De Freitas one-on-one for his third of the year. Tusculum struck back just 46 seconds later as a service from the far left side by Pascual bounced in front of Whalen just as three players came past him, and the ball continued on into the goal to cut the margin to 4-2 at 71:43.
Down a pair of goals, Tusculum applied offensive pressure to Mars Hill, which was content to sit back and defend on long shots from the Pioneers. Tusculum had four shot attempts in the final 11 minutes, but none were close to target.
The teams combined for 28 fouls and three cards in the match, with the Lions whistled for 17 fouls to 11 for the Pioneers. Each team had six corner kicks in the contest.
Tusculum, which opened the season with four straight road matches, will begin a string of three in a row on the road when the Pioneers visit Coker on Saturday, Sept. 25 at 2:30 p.m. The Cobras, who ended the week ranked seventh in the United Soccer Coaches Division II poll, are 5-0 following a 1-0 win over Lincoln Memorial on Saturday.
