DUE WEST, S.C. – The Erskine College men's soccer team (1-1, 1-0 CC) defeated the University of Mount Olive (0-3, 0-1 CC) by a score of 1-0 at Huggins Field in the Fleet's 2024 home and Conference Carolinas opener on Saturday.

In what was a grindy, defensive struggle for most of the afternoon, Leon Bird provided some late heroics, as his 84th-minute strike was enough to help the Fleet start conference play in the win column.

THE ESSENTIALS 
Conf. Carolinas Table | Stats | Scores
Div. II Scores | Record Book | CC Digital Network

HOW IT HAPPENED
In their first home match of the season, the Fleet struggled to create attacking opportunities in the first half, but limited Mount Olive's chances as well, and a pair of saves from Beckham Boomershine sent the game to halftime still scoreless. The second half saw more end-to-end action with chances at both ends arising more often. Most notably for the Fleet was a pair of quickfire shots from Leon Bird and Carlos Murguia from point-blank range in the 59th minute that appeared to give Erskine a lead, but the UMO keeper was equal to both shots. Mount Olive was beginning to pile on the pressure in the final 10 minutes, but, in the 84th minute, the ball fell for freshman Andreas Aspris in midfield and he roamed forward before playing in Bird, who calmly dribbled around the Trojans goalkeeper and passed the ball into the back of the net to give the Fleet a late lead. The Fleet were forced to do a lot of defending after the goal, and an offside ruled out what would have been a UMO equalizer just moments later. However, Erskine defended valiantly and prevented the visitors from any clear-cut chances after the initial wave of pressure, seeing out a 1-0 win over UMO to start conference play with a well-earned home victory.

THE PLAYER
Junior midfielder Leon Bird earned the start and played 87 minutes in the match. Bird tallied a pair of shots on goal, including a very composed finish in the 84th minute in what proved to be the game-winner as the New Zealand native opened his account for the season.

THE TEAM
Erskine was outshot by Mount Olive 10 to 4, and the Trojans had a narrow 4 to 3 advantage in shots on target.

WHAT'S NEXT?
Erskine goes on the road next week and takes on conference newcomer, Shorter University (1-2, 0-1 CC) on Wednesday at 2:30 p.m.

MORE ABOUT THE ERSKINE COLLEGE FLYING FLEET

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