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Men's Soccer

Blazers Fall to Martin Methodist in NAIA Round of Eight

Box Score MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The Belhaven men's soccer team saw its season come to a close on Wednesday afternoon, falling to Martin Methodist College 2-1 in double overtime in the quarterfinals of the 2013 NAIA National Championships. The Redhawks, who upset top seeded Grand View on Monday, topped the eighth seeded Blazers for the third time this season in double overtime.

(Box Score-HTML)
"I could not have been more proud of a great group of young men this season," said Belhaven Head Coach Brian McMahon. "I challenged them with the toughest schedule in the country and to get back to the round of eight was a fantastic accomplishment. We were a group of friend's first and soccer players second. It's been an honor to coach these guys this season."

Belhaven (16-7-1) broke through for the first goal of the match in the 14th minute on a strike by senior Eduardo Cruz. Cruz took advantage of a rebound off a missed shot by senior Will Monsour. Monsour attacked the net with a shot that was deflected by goalie Stephen Lunney to the left of the goal. Cruz was waiting and quickly unloaded the ball into the back of the net. For Cruz, it was his ninth goal of the season and it gave the Blazers the lead early in the match. Monsour got credit for his sixth assist of 2013.

Belhaven controlled the first half and kept the ball in the attacking zone for the majority of the minutes. The Blazers had some other opportunities to add to the lead, but unfortunately could not capitalize with an additional goal.

The door was left open for Martin Methodist (17-3-1) to produce the equalizer. The Redhawks knotted the game on a goal by Juan Madrigal in the 25th minute which started on a set piece following a Belhaven foul. Jonathan Remond took the free kick and placed it into the box where Madrigal redirected the shot into the right side of the net past senior goalie Carl Blundell.

The match then turned into a defensive battle between the clubs, which characterized the first two showdowns of the season. Neither side could hit pay dirt in the second half or the first overtime sending the contest into the second overtime period. The Blazers did produce three shots in the first overtime but none of them made it past Lunney. One was saved, one went high and the other went wide.

The Redhawks then turned up the pressure in the second overtime ending the match in the 105th minute. The game winner came off a rebound that was directed back into the goal by Sean Dong. Remond fired the initial volley at Blundell who dove to deflect the shot. Unfortunately, it went right onto the foot of Dong who had an open net in front of him. Dong produced his fourth goal of the tournament to clinch the victory for the Redhawks.

Belhaven was led on offense by Cruz who took four shot attempts and had the only goal of the match. Blundell made four saves against the Redhawks on Wednesday. Belhaven outshot Martin Methodist 21-14 and held the advantage in corner kicks 8-4.

Dong paced the Redhawks with five shots and one goal while Lunney came up with five saves in the match.

Martin Methodist moves on to the semifinals and will face Ashford University on Friday afternoon in Montgomery.
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