The 3-0 defeat evened the Flames’ record at 1-1, while the Bees of Savannah opened their season with the victory. Things do not get any easier for coach Henry Moyo’s squad. They will pack up and hit the road for the first time on Saturday afternoon, facing one of the NAIA’s best in Bethel College.
Moyo pulled no punches in describing the effort of his Flames in Tuesday night’s defeat. “It was a bad display of soccer,” he pointed out. “We played tonight like we finished the contest on Saturday. Our guys have got to learn to play with a sense of urgency against these very good teams. We are still playing like it is preseason and we’ve got to make better decisions.”
The Bees stung the Flames quickly, scoring the first goal with less than six minutes gone off the scoreboard clock. Elbert Hreinsson scored the first of his two goals. The first assist came from Jean Morana and Theo Angus. Hreinsson put his final score of the game on the board with less than four minutes remaining. It came on an assist from Matt Dwyer.
SCAD’s other score was recorded in the 60th minute. Dwyer slipped a short chip-shot past a Lee defender and the Flames goalkeeper. For the night, the defensive minded Bees only attempted nine shots but eight of those attempts were on target. Lee managed 16 shot attempts but placed only two on goal. Gilbert Ruiz attempted three shots for the Flames as did Mohamed Aden, who was excellent in midfield the entire game. Oneil Crawford and Juan Sebastian Lara fired a pair of shots for the losers.
“We had some chances in both halves, especially midway of the second period,” said Moyo. “We had a serious talk with our guys at the half and early in the second 45 minutes, we played with some passion. Slowly, we slipped right back into the pattern that we played almost the entire first half.”
SCAD keeper, Ross Faulds, had a pair of saves for the winners. Lee’s Preston Luce also had two saves. “We knew SCAD had a very good side,” added Moyo. “They proved it when we played at their place last year. Our young guys have got to grow up in a hurry. We’ve got a very tough schedule in front of us.”
