The Piedmont men’s soccer team rebounded from an early deficit and rolled to a 5-2 win over Berea in its CCS opener on Saturday afternoon.
It was a beautiful fall afternoon in Demorest and the offense for Piedmont became unlocked late in the first half and never stopped as five different Lions found goals.
The game was off to an inauspicious start, as the Mountaineers’ Zakaria Shendra was able to break the scoreless tie with a goal in the 25th minute.
Piedmont was undeterred, however, as a beautiful over-the-top ball from Jason Aussin found Colin Vogel in open space and Vogel capitalized on the chance for the equalizer in the 28th minute.
Then, riding a wave of momentum, the Lions took the lead on a free kick from Cristi Pascaru that rattled the crossbar and was cleaned up from in close by Ricardo Ruiz for his first goal of the season.
The Lions were not done in the first half, again on an assist from Pascaru, who found freshman Davis Knight In open space for Knight’s team-leading seventh goal of the campaign.
Out of the break, the Lions continued their offensive onslaught, this time courtesy of a penalty kick for Jason Aussin’s first goal of the season.
While the Mountaineers were able to convert a penalty kick goal of the their own in the 55th minute, Piedmont held a steady two-goal lead until late, when sophomore Jonathan Ferdinand converted off a cross from Vogel in the final minutes.
Up next, the Lions will be right back in action at home, hosting Sewanee tomorrow at 12 p.m.
TURNING POINT:
– Piedmont delivered an onslaught of four goals in just over 21 minutes of game action to turn a 1-0 deficit into a 4-1 advantage.
STANDOUT PERFORMANCES:
– The upperclassmen Ruiz and Aussin each found their first goal of the season in the win.
– Ferdinand has now scored goals in each of his last two appearances against Berea.
– Knight’s seven goals on the season currently ranks second in the CCS.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:
– The shot count was in favor of Berea by a 19-17 margin.
