RALEIGH, N.C. – After winning the program's first ever match the day before over Warren Wilson, the William Peace men's soccer program picked up right where they left off on Sunday earning the program's first ever win against a Division III opponent.
WPU narrowly edged the Quakers of Guilford College, 2-1, to start their inaugural season as an official member of the USA South Athletic Conference with a record of 2-0. The team has shown tremendous improvement over the past year under the direction of head coach Zane Hill, which couldn't be more evident after the Pacers erased the memories of an embarrassing 6-0 loss to Guilford that occured last season.
The Pacers took control of the game from the opening whistle, crisply connecting their passes to maintain possession and making timely runs into the attacking third which led to two quick goals scored within two minutes of each other.
Dylan Shields scored his first goal as a Pacer taking the feed from Joel Hall and putting it in the back of the net in the 15th minute.
Andrew Suarez added his second goal of the season in the 17th minute.
Guilford turned up the intensity in the second half though taking 10 shots compared to the Pacers three and ended up outshooting WPU 15-9 for the game. They also took nine corner kicks alone in the second half but were unable to put the ball on target until Christian Torres scored in the 85th minute assisted by Corey McDonough.
The Quakers had their chance to send the game to overtime but missed wide right on an open goal in the 90th minute allowing the Pacers to hold on for the win.
The William Peace men's soccer team will return to action for a pair of games on the road this weekend against Bluefield College and Emory & Henry.
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