Box score
LAURINBURG, N.C. --- Lee Squires (Sheffield,
U.K.) tallied a hat trick, and Luke Perry (Cheshire, U.K.) dished
out a season-high four assists to pace the Lees-McRae College men's
soccer team to a 7-1 win over St. Andrews Presbyterian College on
Saturday in Conference Carolinas action.
Lees-McRae (10-3-2, 6-0-1 CC) outshot the Knights (1-14, 0-8 CC)
by a 34-8 margin, including an 18-4 advantage in the second half as
the Bobcats unleashed a six-goal barrage in the final 45 minutes.
Squires paced the Bobcat attack with his 10th, 11th, and 12th goals
of the season to vault into the conference lead. Perry posted four
assists as six Bobcats recorded multi-point afternoons.
David Palmer (Gateshead, U.K.) chipped in with one goal and two
assists, while Jamie Bladen (Yorkshire, U.K.) recorded a goal and
an assist of his own. Sam Kennedy (The East End, U.K.) and Luke
Duffy (Wakefield, U.K.) each tallied a goal, while Kyle Luterbach
(Hickory, N.C.) chipped in with an assist.
Squires paced the Bobcats with 12 shots, including five on
frame, while Palmer and James Galvani (High Wycombe, U.K.) each
sent seven attempts towards goal on the afternoon. Thomas Rusling
(Sheffield, U.K.) and Tyler Gibson (Gastonia, N.C.) each played a
half in goal for the Bobcats, as Gibson tallied a save en route to
his first career win.
The match remained scoreless until the closing moments of the
32nd minute, when Squires broke the deadlock with his first goal of
the match from Palmer and Perry to give LMC a 1-0 lead. St.
Andrews' Marbin Escobar (Jacksonville, Fla.) brought the Knights
back on terms late in the 42nd minute, striking a free kick from
just outside the area into the top corner to send the match into
the interval level at 1-1.
Lees-McRae wasted little time in the second half, taking a 2-1
lead in the 48th minute when Squires notched his second goal of the
match, sending a header into the back of the net off a Luterbach
cross for what would prove to be the deciding strike. Kennedy
pushed the margin to 3-1 early in the 56th minute, slotting home
the finish off a free kick from Bladen for his second goal of the
season.
Bladen would stretch the margin to 4-1 at the 71:00 mark,
delivering his first goal of the campaign off a cross from Perry.
Perry recorded two more assists within the following eight minutes,
setting up Palmer and Squires for their first and third strikes of
the afternoon, respectively, to push the margin to 6-1. Duffy added
a late goal in the 90th minute, driving home his first tally of the
season after a brilliant pass from Palmer.
Lees-McRae returns to the pitch on Tuesday when the Bobcats
travel to Due West, S.C. for a 7 p.m. conference matchup with
Erskine College.
- LMC -
