The opening weekend for the Flagler men’s soccer team was a good start to its 2010 campaign. The Saints traveled to Banner Elk, N.C., and notched two wins.
On Sept. 3, Flagler shut out No. 2-ranked Lees-McCrae College 3-0. Mack Hough’s goal in the 8th minute proved to be all the offense Flagler needed against LMC. Peach Belt Conference Offensive Player of the Week
Conor Killeen tallied two goals while goalkeeper
Matt Gilman turned away four shots.
During Flagler’s second match, just a day later against King College,
Will Frandsen scored the lone goal for the Saints. Frandsen took
Eammon Murphy’s cross and put the ball into the corner of the goal. Gilman tallied his second consecutive shut out and his diving save helped preserve the shut out.
With the wins, Flagler jumped all the way to No. 8 in the NSCAA rankings released this week, including No. 1 in the Southeast Region. The No. 8 ranking is the highest since Flagler was a NAIA school in 2003.
This coming weekend, the Saints will venture to Montevallo, Ala., for their conference opener against 21st-ranked University of Montevallo. The Falcons have started their season 2-0 after wins against No. 5-ranked Tampa and Eckerd. Nathaniel Foster and Nick Saboe each scored in the Falcons’ double-overtime triumph over Tampa. Foster and Milan Pualic, all-conference selections a year ago, were selected to the preseason all-conference team. Montevallo was picked to finish in a tie for third in Peach Belt Poll. Last year, the Saints defeated the Falcons 2-1 in St. Augustine with goals from Hough and Steven Carothers. Gilman tallied eight saves during the match.