Flames burn the Hawks, 7-0 in conference opening
Fans and players of the Lee men's soccer team celebrate a convincing win over the Shorter Hawks on Saturday night.
Courtesy of Jake Rice, Sports Editor
The Flames took to the soccer field on Saturday night to face the visiting Shorter Hawks. While tensions were high at the beginning, the Flames hushed the Hawks by a score of 7-0, leaving no doubt who ruled this rivalry.
“I think the coaching staff plays a major role in getting prepared for games like this, but at the end of the day, it comes down to how bad we want it as a team,” senior midfielder Jose Orellana said. “We all saw this game as an opportunity to get closer to our end goal and approached this game with the mindset of leaving everything on the field and playing for each other.”
The Flames ran circles around the Hawk’s defense and showed no signs of letting up. The first score of the game was by freshman phenom Aidan Moore. This was only the beginning of the Flames offensive onslaught.
Shortly after this goal, Orellana scored his first goal of the year. Orellana knew exactly what aspect of gameplay helped him and his team the most.
“I believe our willingness to outwork the other team on and off the ball made the difference,” Orellana said. “I also think our back line and goalkeeper were crucial in tonight’s performance.”
The Flames clearly outworked Shorter in this game with an outstanding twenty-eight shots on goal compared to the Hawk’s one shot on goal throughout the entire match. Anytime Shorter had the ball, they simply couldn’t get past the Flame’s defense.
The atmosphere at the game and the crowd's support for the Flames was overwhelming. Even when the Flames were ahead by 6 goals, they continued to play as if they were down by one.
Chad Van De Griek was one of the many fans at this game and said he fed off the energy of his fellow fans, too.
“I was feeling good energy from the crowd and the team. But defense is what got them to their win,” Van De Greik said. “We are taller!”
If the Flames can continue to put forth such effort, they will have a fantastic season ahead of them.
“We greatly appreciate everyone who comes out to support. They play a major part in our success, and it means a lot to us as team when we see fans cheering for us,” Orellana said. “We always do our best to make it an enjoyable time and hope that with everyone’s support this will be a special season.”
The Flames are back in action at home on Friday against Auburn Montgomery. For more information on the match and to stay up-to-date with Lee Athletics, visit goleeflames.com.
