As the rain fell down in the second half at the Lee Soccer Field the Lee men's soccer team saw a 2-1 advantage wash away into a 4-2 defeat at the hands of Tusculum College on Saturday evening.
The Pioneers struck in the 83rd minute on a goal by Andre De Giorgi set up by Rocco Menna to knot things up at 2-2. Just five minutes later the Flames were done in by a self-inflicting wound as they failed to clear a loose ball around the net resulting in an own goal.
With just two minutes left coach Paul Furey was forced to bring everyone forward and Andreas Kvam took advantage in the final seconds to give the Pioneers their fourth score of the evening.
"This is definitely a tough one," said Furey after the match.
When we have a 2-1 lead on our field we should be able to close the door and win. We are still having some issue with our organization in the back and that cost us tonight. I give Tusculum credit they came out and played hard and the stats prove that."
Senior captain David Perez got Lee on the board with a rocket shot off the post in the fifth minute. Freshman Samaan Williams delivered the drop pass to earn his first assist of the year.
The Flames held the one score advantage until Tyler Linkous headed a cross from Dallas Dunn into the back of the net to tie things up at 1-1 in the 31st minute.
Sophomore Drew Jackson scored his first goal of the year at the 34:19 mark to give Lee the 2-1 lead. Perez was credited with the assist after delivering the ball from midfield up to a streaking Jackson who slipped the shot past the keeper.
"I was really proud of Drew. He didn't start tonight for the first time this year and sometimes that can be tough on a player but he came in and did some great things there when he came off the bench," noted Furey. "It was a good night for Drew."
The Pioneers stayed on the attack the entire evening recording 23 shots while placing nine on frame. The Flames registered six shots but five were on goal opportunities. Tusculum earned eight corners while Lee was granted three, all in the second half.
Lee keeper Tristan Putnam tallied five saves while the Pioneers goalie Jorge Alvarez managed three saves.
"We've got to keep our heads up because we've got a lot of games left and the big thing for us is to prepare for the Gulf South Conference and be playing our best at that time," said Furey. "We want to win every match but we want to be ready for conference. We need to just regroup and keep battling."
The Flames will look to get back on track on Tuesday as they head to Nashville to take on Trevecca Nazarene at 8 p.m.