No conference win is easy and that certainly proved true Friday evening as the Lee men's soccer team edged Auburn Montgomery, 1-0 on a muggy evening from the Lee Soccer Field.
Senior Alfie Coldron provided the lone goal as the left-footer drilled a shot into the corner of the net off a perfectly timed cross from Jose Orellana in the 40thminute.
"We thought tonight would be a night where we could get him (Coldron) the ball in space and he could go make a play for us and he did just that," said Lee head coach Derek Potteiger.
"Alfie is one of the best goal scorers on the team and we count on him to make plays like that."
The Flames dominated the first half and had several scoring chances despite connecting on just the one goal, outshooting the Warhawks 14-2.
The second half was a different story as AUM held a 9-6 advantage in shots while threatening to find the equalizer on several occasions. The Flames finished with 20 shots and eight on mark while the Warhawks took 11 and placed six on target.
"I thought we did some things well in the first half and really should have scored on a few more chances but I was really disappointed in how we played in the second half. We just showed up and thought they were going to hand it to us in the second half and that certainly wasn't the case," said Potteiger. "We need to play a complete game and I didn't like the way we competed in the second half."
Lee keeper Daniel Hrenko came up with six saves but none were bigger than a one on one save in the 81st minute. Hrenko aggressively challenged Billy Murphy who beat his defender and corralled the point-blank shot to maintain the clean sheet.
Alexander Kraus kept the game close in net for the visitors as he managed seven saves in the contest.
The win moves the Flames to 4-2-1 on the year and 2-0 in league play. The Warhawks suffer their sixth straight loss and are now 1-6 and 0-1 in the GSC.
There won't be much time to recover for the Flames as they will get right back to work on Sunday afternoon when they entertain Montevallo in a 3 p.m. GSC matchup.
"We've got to get physically rested up for Sunday but with the way we played in the second half we have to get mentally focused and get back to playing the type of soccer we are capable of," concluded Potteiger.