Box Score
By Chris Riley
Huntsville, Ala.--Shorter earned a hard fought away win Friday evening as they travelled to Huntsville, Alabama to take on Alabama Huntsville in the opening game of Gulf South Conference play; defeating UAH, 1-0.
The win set many milestones for the team as head Coach Paulo Neto picked up his first clean sheet in charge of the Hawks. The one nil win was also the first time that Shorter has kept a clean sheet since October 2011 and marked a progression in the development of the squad and program.
The win improves Shorter to 1-1-1 on the season, while UAH also moves to 1-1-1.
Goalkeeper, Nicholas Ferringo, made his debut in the Shorter goal and was inspirational throughout the game, saving a penalty in the 25th minute to keep the score level after Shorter carelessly gave the ball away in their own half. The save set a precedent for the game as Ferringo and the Shorter back four refused to give up the clean sheet in the face of mounting pressure from UAH; culminating in a spectacular last ditch tackle from Sam Clare with just 5 seconds left on the clock when it looked certain that the deadlock would be broken.
Shorter was able to get on the score sheet as Ferringo claimed a ball from a UAH corner and released striker
Lucas Cavenco who found his way into the box only to be brought down for a penalty. It was the second game in a row that Cavenco was able to draw a penalty kick.
Irvin Espinal completed his impressive comeback from serious injury when he slotted away the resulting penalty with just 5 minutes left in the first half. The goal brought to an end a poor first half in which neither team was able to stick to their game plan, to the annoyance of their respective coaches.
Huntsville came out stronger in the second half and it seemed only a matter of time before they found the goal that they seemingly deserved. But to their credit, Shorter, stood firm with some help from the post and some impressive saves from Ferringo in the net.
After the game Coach Neto said, "I am certainly pleased with the result, but not with the way we performed tonight."
"I felt like UAH was the better team tonight despite the outcome of the game. They exposed us in different ways and we will adjust not to make the same mistakes next time around. With that said, it's great to get the win, especially to reward the efforts of our back line and goalkeeper," he goes on to say, "Moreover many times last year we lost games when we outplayed our opponent. It's refreshing to have the table turned. This will make us a better and more confident team."
Shorter will travel to Tennessee tomorrow morning to take on Union University on Sunday at 5pm.
