MARIETTA, Ga. – On Saturday afternoon in the final match of a four-game homestand, its longest of the season, the Southern Polytechnic State University men's soccer team lost, 2-1 in overtime, to the Auburn University at Montgomery Warhawks in a Southern States Athletic Conference contest at Nuesoft Technologies Field. Auburn Montgomery is rated 13th nationally in the NAIA while Southern Polytechnic received 12 points in this week's coaches' poll to rank No. 37.
"I thought the first 20 minutes we absolutely got hammered and we weathered the storm," Southern Poly head coach Kom Momeni said. "I think that says a lot about a team. AUM came out with tons of energy and we were always just a step too slow. After that point, I thought we did really well. I thought we did plenty to win. I thought we created a lot of chances and we were pretty dangerous. I think we outshot them and had more corner kicks, but we're not quite there yet.
"I think it's a shame that we lost this game because I thought a lot of guys had good games. But at the end of the day, you've got to finish your chances and make sure you're defensively sound."
The Warhawks opened the scoring in the 34th minute (33:41) and held a 1-0 halftime lead. The Hornets tied the match in the 58th minute (57:26) on a goal by Ahmed Zaky that was assisted by freshman Moriba Ballah. The score remained knotted up through 90 minutes, sending the game into overtime. In the 96th minute (95:45), AUM came up with the golden goal to record the victory.
SPSU had a slim 15-14 edge in shots, including 7-6 on goal. Southern Poly tallied 10 corner kicks to Auburn Montgomery's five.
For the Hornets, Vincent Easterbrook played the full contest in goal. He was credited with four saves.
"We've got two weeks off and it will give us an opportunity to get better," Momeni said. "We've just got to plug away."
SPSU is 6-4-1 overall and 2-4-0 in the conference while the Warhawks improve to 8-4-0, including 5-0-0 in SSAC play. Southern Poly's next match is on Saturday, Oct. 19 when traveling to play the Brewton-Parker College Barons in an SSAC game. The contest is scheduled at 3:30 p.m. in Mount Vernon, Ga.
