NEED TO KNOW:
Score: Piedmont 5, Maryville 1
Records: Piedmont, 6-4 (4-1 USAS); Maryville, 2-5 (1-4 USAS)
 
DEMOREST, Ga. – An exciting and dominating second half from the Piedmont College men's soccer team on Sunday afternoon propelled the Lions to a special 5-1 victory over conference foe Maryville on the team's Senior Day.
 
Piedmont's win over the Scots was the first for the Lions in the series since 2018 and just their third win since 2007. The last time the Lions scored five or more goals versus Maryville was a 6-1 victory in the 2003 GSAC conference final.
 
On Sunday, the Lions showed they would be the aggressors from the start, but took a while to find the back of the net.
 
Both teams had chances early on, but the Lions consistently had better scoring opportunities. Piedmont's first goal came on a long runout from freshman forward OWEN GATES as he and a Scot defender each tried to chase down a long pass that was sent way over their heads by sophomore JOJO CROFFIE.
 
Gates just managed to punch the ball past his defender and Maryville goalkeeper Mykal Manfred for the game's first score in the 36^th minute.
 
Piedmont went into half up only one goal despite leading the first half shot chart 6-4 and having zero corner kick chances compared to five for Maryville.
 
The Lions stuck with the aggressive game plan to start the second half as Gates scored his second of the game in the 53^rd minute on an assist from senior CAMERON EARLS. Earls had his shot blocked on a solo run, but the rebound came back to him and he flicked it over to a wide-open Gates to put the Lions up 2-0.
 
Maryville managed to get on the board just 10 minutes later with a goal from Jace Burchfiel and nearly scored again with a shot that hit the post, but that only brought on another pair of Piedmont goals less than five minutes later.
 
Earls put the Lions up 3-1 after a header of his was blocked, but again the rebound came right back to him for an easy goal. Just one minute later, sophomore MALA JALLOW beat his man to the baseline down the left side and sent a perfect pass to the freshman RICARDO RUIZ for an easy point-blank goal to go up 4-1.
 
Earls capped off the dominating victory with his second goal in the 75^th minute, this time on an assist from freshman MATTHEW LOFTIN to put the finishing touches on an emotional senior day victory.
 
All three seniors took advantage of what could be their finals games at Walker Athletic Complex. On top of five points from Earls, centerback IAN ADDISON anchored the Piedmont defense and had a hand in spoiling multiple scoring chances for the Scots.
 
Behind him, keeper CAMERON VERONA made four saves on the day, including a fantastic diving stop early in the contest to preserve the scoreless game. Verona and Lions finished the regular season undefeated at home.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:
- Piedmont shot 20 times to Maryville's 13, but was also efficient with its chances as 13 of the Lions' 20 shots were on goal.
-The Lions only had two corner kicks to Maryville's nine with both of Piedmont's coming in the second half.
 
UP NEXT:
- Piedmont concludes the spring 2021 regular season next Friday, March 26, on the road at LaGrange. Kickoff is set for 5:00 p.m.

HOW TO FOLLOW:
- To stay up to date on all information regarding Piedmont College Athletics, be sure to visit PiedmontLions.com and connect with the Green and Gold on social media. Follow the Lions on Twitter: @PiedmontLions, Instagram: @PiedmontLions, and Facebook. To follow each Piedmont athletic program on social media, use the Social Media Directory at PiedmontLions.com or click here.
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