AIKEN, S.C. – The University of South Carolina Aiken men's soccer team earned a 3-0 win over Montevallo Saturday afternoon in a Peach Belt Conference contest.
The Pacers are now 10-2-1 on the season, including a 4-1 mark against league foes. The Falcons are now 6-4-3 overall and 3-3-2 in PBC action.
Noel Mais struck first for the home team when he tapped in a pass from Jan Wester for a 1-0 edge just 22 seconds into the contest. Moments later, USC Aiken surged ahead with its second score of the match. Andre Simmond took a corner kick and played the ball to Wester, who found the back of the net for the tally.
Montevallo tried to control the possession and amassed a couple of shots, but neither was on frame. In the 21st minute, Joshua Poissant saw his first bit of action in the match when he stopped Ram Gilad's attempt, preserving the score.
In the 36th minute, Simmond was fouled in the box and calmly sank the penalty kick for the 3-0 lead.
Ten seconds later, Adria Dalmau attempted to score the fourth goal of the half, but he missed just wide of the frame. Gabriel Locher's header was just high of the crossbar at the 43:03 mark, which sent head coach Ike Ofoje's team into intermission with a 3-0 edge.
In the second half, the Pacers controlled play for virtually the entire 45 minutes, but the squad was unable to put another goal on the board.
In the 76th minute of action, Rodrigo Goncalves fired home a shot off a corner kick from Simmond but was turned away by Yannic Horn. Three minutes later, Wester blasted a shot, but it was blocked. Sajih Daychoum added a shot while Jonathan Dishon had two attempts that were saved by the keeper in the 87th minute.
For the match, Poissant made two saves while tallying the shutout. He played all 90 minutes between the pipes. Poissant recorded a save in each half.
USC Aiken maintained a 13-8 edge in shots for the contest, including a 7-3 effort in the opening stanza. Both teams posted five corner kicks.
The Falcons totaled five saves. The teams combined for 28 fouls in the contest and five yellow cards.
The Pacers return to action Wednesday when they host Francis Marion at 6 p.m.
