Georgia Southern Tops Lipscomb, 3-1
9/11/2011 8:05:00 PM | Men's Soccer
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Georgia Southern Men's Soccer improved to 3-1-1 on the season with a 3-1 victory over Lipscomb to claim the Belmont Invitational Championship on Sunday afternoon (September 11th). Georgia Southern's Luigi Clendening scored his team-high fourth goal of the season while Alex Evert scored Georgia Southern's first penalty of the season.
Georgia Southern had four players named to the All-Tournament team as Ryan Platt, Hunter Norton, Luigi Clendening and Seth Prieto were honored for a great weekend of play.
"We felt it was a very successful weekend," said Head Coach Kevin Kennedy. "We are happy to get two wins and close this five game road swing in winning form. We were really happy with the guys' grit and determination on Friday night. Today the guys responded with a chance to win the tournament and we played very well against Lipscomb".
Sophomore Drew Ruggles (Manassas, Va.) put the Eagles ahead, 1-0, in the 10th minute with his first goal of the season. The Eagle midfielder struck a shot from just outside the penalty area.
Georgia Southern, however, was penalized just before the halftime break as Joe Hughes (Mooresville, N.C.) picked up a red card, the first sending off of an Eagle this season. The Eagles were relegated to finishing the match with 10 players on the field.
In the 65th minute, a second yellow card to Lipscomb's Matt Kerridge brought the teams to 10-men each. Senior Luigi Clendening (Augusta, Ga.) recorded his fourth goal of the season five minutes later on a breakaway through the Bison defense to put the Eagles up 2-0.
"Our guys showed a lot of character playing down a man," added Kennedy. "The turning point of the match was Luigi's goal."
Senior Alex Evert (Marietta, Ga.) converted a penalty in the 79th minute to put Georgia Southern ahead, 3-0.
Goakeeper Ryan Platt (Preston, England) had a tremendous day in goal, but was denied his second shutout in as many matches when Lipscomb's Evan Beutler scored a goal with just a few seconds remaining in the match. The senior netminder made three saves in the match.
Georgia Southern returns to the friendly confines of Eagle Field for a midweek match against Presbyterian College. The non-conference tie begins at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, September 14th.
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