Box Score
Marietta, GA-The Belhaven men's soccer team went on the road Tuesday afternoon and opened the Southern States Athletic Conference portion of the schedule in style stopping 5th ranked Southern Polytechnic State 1-0. The Blazers, ranked 6th in the latest NAIA Top 25 Poll, scored the only goal of the game in the 25th minute and held off the Hornets for the win.

Belhaven (4-0) got the goal thanks to Tom Cosgrave who found the back of the net for the first time this season. Alex Rodriguez posted the assist when he dropped a free kick from the top left just to the right of the goal where Cosgrave slammed it in. Southern Polytechnic State (6-1) shutdown the Blazer offense and then put relentless pressure on the Belhaven defense in the second half.

However, goalkeeper Greg Hartley was up for the challenge recording four of his six saves in the final 45 minutes of action. He stopped three shots by Southern Poly's Jumol Harewood who just missed on scoring opportunities to knot the game in the final period. The Hornet's outshot Belhaven in the second half 7-3, but the Blazers had the only one in the game that counted for a goal.

Cosgrave's goal came on his only shot of the game while four other Blazers unloaded two shots apiece. Aaron McLoughlin, Guilherme Brandao, Achille Campion, and Alex Rodriguez all had a pair of looks at the net. For Southern Poly, Harewood had a team high five shots trailed by Emeka Maduka and Juan Henao with three each. The Hornet's had the edge in total shots 14-12.

Hartley earned his fourth win in net and fourth shutout this season for Belhaven. Southern Poly goalkeeper Jason Andrew made four saves and allowed the only goal of the game as he suffered the loss.

“This victory was a huge win for us,” said Belhaven Head Coach Steve DeCou. “Southern Poly is an outstanding team and for us to get a win at their place took a tremendous effort from our guys which we got today. This was also a great way to start the Southern States Athletic Conference schedule.”

Belhaven will be back in action at home on H.T. Newell Field when they host LSU-Shreveport in a non-conference matchup slated for 6:00 PM. Fans can follow all the action through live stats by clicking here.