MOBILE, Ala. --- Spring Hill College scored two first-half goals and held on for a 2-1 victory over Tusculum University in non-conference men's soccer action Friday afternoon.
The Badgers (1-0-0) built their 2-0 lead on goals from Matthew Moreno in the third minute and Luca Carrese in the 31st minute, but the Pioneers (0-1-0) came on in the second half and pulled within 2-1 as Levi Vasconcelos scored in the 71st minute. Each team finished with 12 shots, with Spring Hill holding a 10-2 edge in the first half and Tusculum returning the favor in the second half.
The Badgers went up 1-0 just 2:52 into the first half as Moreno took a pass from Diogo Sousa and went high past Pioneer keeper Bruno De Freitas. Moreno looked for his second goal in the 15th minute, but De Freitas came up with the save for Tusculum.
Spring Hill had a pair of chances in the 25th minute, as a shot from Sousa was stopped by De Freitas and an attempt by Rafa Passanha caught the crossbar. The Badgers made it 2-0 at 30:18 as a free kick from Moreno led to a goal by Carrese.
Tusculum was held without a shot until the 42nd minute when an attempt from Jean-Pierre Vital was saved by Badger keeper Alessandro Erdelyi. Less than a minute later, Damien Baltide put a shot on target that was also handled by Erdelyi.
The Pioneers came out aggressive to start the second half, as Michele Di Miele put a shot on goal that was stopped by Erdelyi less than 90 seconds into the half. Another shot attempt, off the foot of Vital, went wide to the right in the 49th minute.
Tusculum finally broke through at 70:13 as Vasconcelos scored in his Pioneer debut, with assists to Di Miele and Marc Caceres, cutting the Badgers' lead to 2-1. Baltide had a shot on goal in the 83rd minute which was stopped by Erdelyi, and the Spring Hill defense did not allow another shot attempt in the final seven minutes.
De Freitas finished with three saves in his first career start in goal for the Pioneers, while Erdelyi had four saves for the Badgers. In addition to the 12-12 deadlock in shot attempts, both teams had 13 fouls and seven corner kicks in the contest. Spring Hill was flagged five times for offsides compared to once for Tusculum.
Tusculum will return to action on Tuesday, Sept. 7 at Lees-McRae, beginning at 5 p.m.
