Box Score
The SCAD men's soccer team came into Montgomery, Alabama hot after winning its first two exhibition matches of the 2012 season. The Bees faced off with Belhaven University who ranked #17 in the NAIA Coaches preseason poll. The Blazers brought a 3-0 record to the Montgomery tournament. The match would prove to be a fierce defensive battle among unbeatens.
The opening minutes of the match would give evidence of what would be a sign of things to come. Both teams demonstrated a deliberate offense in that each team attempted only 5 shots in the period. However, the contest was tenacious as 13 fouls and 3 yellow cards were given to both schools as they vigorously opposed each other in an attempt to gain the advantage. It was not until the 19
th minute of the period that the Blazers finally scored on a breakaway, with Will Monsour of Belhaven putting the ball into the net to give Belhaven a 1-0 lead. And that is the way the first half closed.
Once again the second period was fiercely fought. Sixteen fouls and six more yellow cards were garnered by the two teams. An unfortunate occurrence took place at the beginning of the period when junior
John McAleenan suffered a broken wrist having to leave the game. Up and down the field the two teams fought with each team once again matching shots with nine. SCAD goalkeeper,
Josh Brown, demonstrated good tenacity in saving seven Blazer shots on goal. But no scoring was evidenced until the final minute and a half of the match when Monsour scored his second goal of the day on another breakaway.
However, SCAD was not to be denied. The Bees played too hard to be shutout. Down 2-0 with less than a minute to play in the match,
Richard Langthorne, on an assist by
Brinton Nute, scored the Bees' only goal. The final score was 2-1 in favor of the Blazers. SCAD Coach
Tom Melville had this to say of the Bees' play, “We were not as fit as we should be because of lack of training sessions due to bad weather in Savannah. We will improve as we cut down on our mistakes.”
The men play again Saturday against host team, Auburn University Montgomery.
