Andrew College remains undefeated with 6-1 victory

DECATUR, Miss. -- Connor Heydon (New South Wales, Australia) recorded a season and career-high seven point day as Andrew College (3-0-0) rolled to its best start in modern-day history with a 6-1 victory on the road over East Central CC (2-2-0).

After a slow start to the match it was Heydon who took a pass from Lewis Jones (Liverpool, England) at the top of the penalty area and turned his defender to smash a shot past the helpless Warrior keeper for a 1-0 advantage in the 12th minute.

"We started slowly," stated Roediger. "Once we got things going, everyone contributed very well as we expect and helped get the result."

After head coach Rudy Roediger made adjustments to the squad it was a pair of substitutes who combined to double the lead in the 35th minute.

Abdel Rivas (Bradenton, Fla.) burst past his marker to swing a cross in that found a crashing Nick McCrite (Hampton, Ga.) to give the 2015 Region 4-AAAAA Co-Region Player of the Year his debut goal.

Five minutes later it was a strike from distance that beat the Warriors as they defended multiple waves from the Fighting Tigers.

James Quinn (Slough, England) picked up the scraps following a punched save by Jakob Williams on Henning Nordvall (Orebro, Sweden) shot. Quinn took a touch and smashed a driven shot from 30-yards passed the helpless Williams to give Andrew College a dominate 3-0 lead, five minutes from the break.

Four minutes later Quinn turned from scorer to provider to put the boys in Blue & Gold up by four. Josh Fines (Farmborough, England) picked out his fellow England teammate with a pointed pass to open up the Warrior defense as Quinn's deep run found space. The Slough, England native's whipped cross found the near post run by Chris Beeland (Meansville, Ga.). The 2015 graduate of Pike County High School did well to finish with his first touch to put Andrew well in front, 4-0 at the break.

The second half saw multiple substitutes as the Fighting Tigers dominated large spells of possession as all 22 available players came on to play at least 20 minutes.

East Central pulled one back when Nick Thomas stepped up and coolly finished from the penalty mark after a foul in the box to give the hosts a breath of life.

Late goals by Dare Mayomi (Riverdale, Ga.) and Heydon put the game well out of reach for the Warriors.

Mayomi was rewarded for his run when Heydon turned from scorer to provided and slipped in the Charles R. Drew alumni who clinically finished for a 5-1 lead.

Heydon completed the scoring when his deep run was rewarded by Marcos Soma (Coconut Creek, Fla.) to conclude the scoring at 6-1.

In goal George Cunha turned away the only shot he faced in 65 minutes of actiong to earn his third victory of the season while Sam Manns made one save in his collegiate debut.

NOTES

• With its 2-1 season opening victory on Aug. 21 Andrew College won its first NJCAA Division I match since Oct. 1, 2012 when AC defeated Georgia Military 1-0, breaking a streak of 23 losses that lasted 1,054 days. 
• The Fighting Tigers improved to 3-0-0 on the season surpassing their win total (2) from 2014.
• The boys in Blue & Gold tied the largest margin of victory since Sept. 1, 2013 when they defeated Huntingdon College JV 6-1.
• Andrew College is 2-0-0 against teams receiving votes in the 2015 NJCAA Division I Preseason National Poll.The Fighting Tigers are 2-0-0 in one goal games.
• Andrew College is undefeated at home in 2015 with back-to-back 2-1 victories.
• Eight different first-year players have scored and or assisted for AC through its first three matches. 
• 22 newcomers have appeared in at least one game for the Fighting Tigers.