It took 110 minutes of action and then penalty kicks, but the #7 seed Lee University men’s soccer team upset the #2 see University of West Alabama on Sunday evening. The Flames and Tigers played the full 90 minutes of regulation to a scoreless draw. Then they played another 20 minutes of extra time and still neither team was able to score. Eventually, the Flames won 4-2 in penalty kicks to send Lee to the Gulf South Conference tournament semifinals for the first time since 2021.
It was a game that the Flames dominated the stat line for most of the contest.
Lee outshot UWA 23-7 including 9-2 with shots on goal, but the Flames could not convert. Marc Ehmann and Eamon McLaughlin led the way, with each taking six shots in the contest. They each had a shot in the first half that forced a big save from the UWA goalkeeper.
The Flames defense also came up strong in the first half only allowing the Tigers one shot in the first half. UWA also earned two yellow cards in the first half.
The second half was a different story as UWA came out of the break with a lot of pressure and forced a couple of saves from Jakob Buhrkuhl. One of the turning points in the game came in the 68th minute as Richard Lopez earned his second yellow card of the match which resulted in a red card. The Tigers would then play the next 42 minutes a man down.
The next five minutes resulted in Lee taking six or seven shots and forcing some more saves from UWA. McLaughlin even hit the top of the crossbar on one of the shots. Despite the pressure, the Flames could not find the back of the net.
The game ended with a 0-0 tie after 90 minutes of regulation and the teams prepared for 20 more minutes. The NCAA changed the rules and took any golden goal opportunities out, so the game was guaranteed to last the whole length.
In the first overtime period, each team managed just one shot. In the second overtime period Lee had two shots, including one from Farid Chouyouti that went just over the crossbar as timed expired and the game went to penalty kicks.
Ehmann took the first penalty for the Flames and he easily found the back of the net on the left side. UWA scored their first penalty to tie it at 1-1. Ruben d’Hollosy converted the second one for the Flames and UWA scored theirs as well to tie it at 2-2.
Matias Siems took the third penalty and his shot was saved by the UWA goalkeeper, however the goalkeeper came off of the line too soon and Siems got to retake the penalty and the second time he converted it. On the third UWA penalty kick, Buhrkuhl guess right and made the save to put Lee up 3-2 after three rounds. David Koch converted the fourth PK for the Flames. The fourth PK for UWA hit the cross bar and the Flames won it 4-2 on penalty kicks.
It was the first time since 2019 that the Flames had participated in a penalty shootout. The last time, they lost to Queens University in the opening round of the NCAA tournament which they lost 5-4. This was the time since November 12, 2008 that the Flames have won a penalty shootout. Lee defeated Auburn University Montgomery 5-4 in the semifinals of the Southern States Athletic Conference tournament.
The Flames will play #3 seed University of West Florida on Friday, November 10 at 7 PM EST. The two teams will clash in the semifinals of the Gulf South Conference at John Hunt Park in Huntsville, Ala.
Coach Derek Potteiger’s Thoughts:
“That was a top class performance by the guys tonight! West Alabama is a very good team, but we were better from start to finish tonight and deserved to go through.”
“I’m really proud of the execution on both sides of the ball tonight. We prepared all week specifically for what we would see from West Alabama and the guys came out and executed on a very high level of consistency tonight. Our back group of defensive players (back line and midfielders) stayed compact and composed and allowed very few chances from what is a talented group of attacking players - I could not be more proud of the defensive effort from that group.”
“As much as I wanted to win the game in regulation, I was thrilled that the guys stayed composed and executed in the Shootout. What a great way to finish out a solid performance.
We will enjoy this for tonight but then our focus will shift immediately to West Florida and the championship weekend.”