Banner Elk, NC - The Southern Wesleyan University Men's Soccer Team lost their third straight Conference Carolinas game on Tuesday night, but by no fault of their effort. 

The Warriors recorded 18 shots during the game, nine of them were on target. Feren Nunez led the team with four shots, followed by Diego Hernandez and Gabriel Melendez with three shots each. Marco Iniguez played all 90 minutes in goal, tallying 10 saves. 



Game Vitals: 

Lees-McRae 4, Southern Wesleyan 3

Records: Lees-McRae (2-2-2), Southern Wesleyan (2-4-1)



How It Happened: 

Both teams started the game eager to get the breakthrough goal. The Warriors immediately found success attacking down the right side of the field through Dillon Bennett and Noah Koch. That connection resulted in some half-chances for Southern Wesleyan, but nothing to really threaten the Bobcat net. A midfield breakdown led to the first Lees-McRae goal, which was well-taken by Harrison Watts in the 24th minute. Both teams continued to trade punches for the remainder of the half, but neither team would find the back of the net before the break. 

But the final 45 minutes is where the match really began to get interesting. The Bobcats scored their 2nd and 3rd goals of the night in the first 15 finutes of the second half, but the Warriors refused to back down. In the 63rd Minute, a Feren Nunez corner kick found Brody Schroeder in the six yard box and the freshman's header found the back of the net for his first goal of the regular season. However, the Bobcats' substitutions would prove to cause problems for the SWU defense again in the 82nd Minute when Ryan Aliam capitalized on a defensive mistake for the 4th Lees-McRae goal of the night. And yet, that still wasn't the end of the action. Two goals, a yellow card, and a red card would come in the final seven minutes of action. Freshman Dillon Bennett - who was one of the better players on the field all night - had a lapse in maturity and went in late on a tackle to pick up the only yellow card of the night for Southern Wesleyan. In the 85th minute, Feren Nunez curved a free-kick around the Bobcat wall with perfection for his fourth goal of the season. The Warriors scored again 90 seconds later through sophomore Gabriel Melendez, to cut the Lees-McRae lead to just one. Unfortunately, the miracle came just short and SWU couldn't complete the comeback, falling to 0-3 in Conference Carolinas play.

Noah Koch was named the "Warriors' Spark Plug of the Game", a team-selected award for a player who brought high energy and an impactful performance. Koch was on top of his game for the Warriors tonight, as he has been for the majority of the season. Koch was terrific defensively, but also created some chances for Warrior attackers down the right flank. 



What's Next:

The Warriors will host the Young Harris Mountain Lions on Saturday, September 23rd at 3:30, followed by a non-conference matchup with Carolina University on Wednesday, September 27th at 7:30.