The Lee men's soccer team opened up Gulf South Conference play with a big 2-1 victory over the 15th-ranked West Florida Argonauts on Friday night.
The home team struck first in the contest as Stephen Enderlin headed in a goal off a long throw in at the 13:15 mark.
Lee would respond in the 21st minute as junior forward David Perez scored his team-leading eighth goal of the season. Perez knotted things up off a free kick from sophomore Jake Molony. "DP once again had a great goal for us to tie it after we went down," said head coach Paul Furey.
The decisive score would come from senior defender Jon Finlay just seconds before the halftime break (44:22).
The Liverpool, England native hammered home his first goal of the season off a long cross from junior Quade Marinell to give the Flames the 2-1 advantage.
"I'm happy for Jon. He got the game winner on a great service from Quade," Furey added. "We've talked about a year of firsts; being our first year as full members of (NCAA) D2, but this was also our first win against UWF after tying the previous two times. We want to make a mark in our first year and this is a good start for us."
Senior Lee keeper Tom Halsall and the back line would make the lead stick in the second period. Halsall withstood 11 shots and six corner kicks in the match and allowed just the one goal to go along with three saves.
West Florida goalkeeper Andre Moreira fell to 3-2 on the year as he allowed two goals and recorded a pair of saves.
The Flames registered eight shots in the match and place four on frame. The Argonauts tallied 11 shots and also had four on goal.
Lee captures its first victory over West Florida and now moves to 1-1-2 all-time against the perennial Gulf South power. The Flames improve to 6-2-1 overall and start conference play off on the right foot with a 1-0 mark. The loss drops the Argos to 6-2 and 1-2 in the GSC.
"It was really a nice win for us on the road against a top-ranked team. I'm very proud of our guys and especially for once again responding well after conceding the first goal. It is our third road match this year where we came from behind to get the win. I love that about this group," concluded the satisfied coach.
Lee will continue its road trip on Sunday afternoon as it travels across the Gulf Coast to play Spring Hill College at 4:30 p.m.