MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The no. 25 ranked Auburn Montgomery men's soccer team clinched the number-one overall seed in Group B of the GSC Spring Championship Series with a 2-1 victory over Shorter University on Thursday, March 11 from the AUM Soccer Complex.
 
Prior to the match, Alexander Wagner, Darius Rashid, Thomas Carlile, Berkly Louviere, Cade Bryant, Will Atkinson, and Cooper Howard were recognized as a part of the 2021 Senior Day Ceremony. 
 
With the win, AUM closes out the regular-season portion of the GSC Spring Championship Series at 3-0-1 overall, while Shorter drops to 1-2-1
 
Lucas Batistela booted in the Warhawks first score of the contest in the 11th minute, when he took a well-placed ball from Renan Diniz into the box and finessed a flush strike to the back of the net to give the Warhawks the early 1-0 advantage. 
 
The Hawks knocked in the equalizer in the 76th minute on a long throw-in from Hernan Saldana that found the foot of Jan Gruhn to make it 1-1. 
 
AUM needed only five minutes to go back on top, however. Eric Besse helped set up the eventual game-winner by delivering a high-towering throw-in from the right side that found the head of Charlie Elliott for his second score of the season. 
 
"I'm very pleased with how hard our boys worked over 90 minutes," Head Coach Matthew Thorne said. "We're delighted to get the win and regular-season championship on our side. Shorter is a very talented team and was very dangerous tonight on their counterattacks and set pieces. The boys showed serious bottle and character, especially after the game went 1-1 after leading for the majority of the game. A lot of times teams will drop their head and give up when that happens, but our boys kept going and I'm very proud of them for that. It was overall a great team performance by both our starters and substitutes that came off the bench. Tonight's win was for the seniors. One of the goals we set this season was to win our group, and we can now check that off. It's a new season now though, and it doesn't matter what seed you are because it's win or go home. We're excited for the upcoming challenge."
 
The Warhawks outshot Shorter 10-7 on the day, with four shots on goal compared to the Hawks' three. 
 
Elliott tallied a team-high three shots on the night, while Diniz put up a pair with one on goal. 
 
Alexander Kraus (3-0-1) grabbed two saves on the way to his third win of the 2021 campaign. 
 
The men's soccer team clinched a first-round bye with the win, setting up a home matchup in the Quarterfinal Round of the GSC Spring Championship Series Postseason Tournament on Sunday, March 21.  A location and time have yet to be determined, but will be announced when information becomes available. 
 
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