Box Score
JACKSON, Miss.-The Belhaven men's soccer team arguably faced its toughest challenge of the season Friday and passed with flying colors, defeating 7th ranked Southern Polytechnic State University 1-0 at H.T. Newell Field. The Blazers, ranked 4th in the latest NAIA Top 25 Coaches' Poll and RPI Poll, scored the only goal they would need in the fourth minute and dug in defensively to secure the win.

Sophomore Victor Lawrence provided the goal off a perfect through pass from senior Loic Miliani. Miliani moved the ball from the left side of the field and hit Lawrence in stride 20 yards away from the goal. Lawrence then made a quick move to his left shedding a defender to setup a one on one shot against goalkeeper Dennis Kramer. Lawrence made the most of the opportunity as he fired the shot past Kramer into the right corner of the net for the goal.

At that point, the Blazers buckled down on defense and made things very difficult for Southern Poly's (6-2, 2-1 SSAC) offensive attack. Belhaven (10-0, 3-0 SSAC) consistently denied passing lanes and had defenders on top of the ball at all times. The Hornets, who led the NAIA with 23 shots per game coming into Friday, were held to just 13 attempts the entire match. Belhaven junior goalkeeper Carl Blundell stopped three of the shots preserving the 1-0 shutout victory.

“I was really proud of the guys today,” said Belhaven Head Coach Brain McMahon. “Southern Poly is a great team and has several quality attacking players that are tough to deal with. I felt our commitment to team defense was the difference in the game. I give credit to Southern Poly though as they played a great game and they will do great things this season.”

Lawrence's goal in the first period was his sixth on the season ranking him second on the team. The assist was Miliani's team best eighth on the 2012 campaign. Coming into the match, Milliani was second in assists at the national level. Blundell remains unbeaten in net working all 90 minutes for his 9th win of the season and fifth shutout.

Omar Kanteh led the Hornets with three shots followed by Andre Santos, Adis Islamovic, and Emeka Maduka with two each. Kramer made three saves in goal and played all 90 minutes.

Belhaven will be back in action on Saturday when the team hosts Lee University in another Southern States Athletic Conference matchup beginning at 4:30 PM.