FAYETTEVILLE, NC – The William Peace University men's soccer team traveled to Methodist University Wednesday afternoon, where the Pacers picked up a crucial USA South conference win with a 1-0 shutout.

Christian Ortiz made 10 saves in goal for the Pacers (5-6-2, 1-5-1 USAS) and also recorded an assist on the lone score of the game. Ortiz played a long ball over the top to find Chris Deleon, who chipped it over the keeper for his team-leading eighth goal of the season.

Deleon is tied for third in the conference in goals scored and sits alone ranked third with 19 points. Meanwhile, Ortiz leads the league with an .802 save percentage.

Despite being outshot, 21-6, it only took the Pacers one to come away on top in what was virtually a must-win game if they have hopes of making the conference tournament at the end of the month. Methodist (5-5-1, 3-2 USAS) pushed four up top and put the press on for the final 15 minutes of the game, but the defense held strong and preserved the victory.

"Huge win and quite possibly the biggest win in program history against one of the perennial powers in our conference, so coming out and getting that win today was great, and in addition to that, we were able to implement a lot of the things we've been working on," said head coach Caleb Husmann "We were very organized defensively, very effective on the counter attack, and everyone really played all the way through 90 minutes. Team defense and then transitioning to attack as a team was great, so I couldn't be more proud of the men."

The WPU men's soccer team is back at WakeMed Soccer Park Tuesday, October 11 at 4:00 p.m. against the Battling Bishops of North Carolina Wesleyan.

Video coverage and live stats will be available for the contest.

For the latest news and updates from William Peace University Athletics, please visit: http://gopeacepacers.com/.


        

Caleb Husmann Postgame: Methodist (10.5.16)