Season Recap: Men's Soccer 2024

• The Lions finished the 2024 season with a 7-9-2 overall record and a 2-4 mark in the Collegiate Conference of the South.
• Piedmont was tough on the road all season, with five of the team's seven wins coming in true road contests.
• It was a strong start that helped the Lions this season, as they won four straight to begin the campaign for the best four-game start to a season in the program's NCAA era (since 2003).
• To earn that fourth victory to start the season, Piedmont overcame a 2-1 deficit in the final minutes against Greenville, scoring twice to win 3-2.
• Piedmont took its conference opener at Asbury thanks to three goals from Jason Aussin, including two in a 14 second span in the second half.

• The Lions fell behind early as Greenville opened the scoring in the eighth minute of play. Off a corner, the ball was knocked around the box before being tapped home by the Panthers.
• The stout defense proved important as sophomore Davis Knight leveled the contest in the 23rd minute. Off a long free-kick ball from Wood, freshman Mason Keith headed the ball into the 18, where a failed Panther clearance gave Knight a prime opportunity to put away his fifth of the season.
• Late in the second half, Greenville finally broke through once more. Similar to the first goal, a corner kick bounced around the 18 before falling directly to a Panther player. Wood was able to get a body on the shot, but the deflection trickled into the net. 
• The Lions refused to go quietly as they hunted down an equalizer. In the 85th minute of play, Aussin put home a brilliant goal to level the contest once more. Following a corner clearance, a service from the midfield line was headed into the box where Aussin tucked home the chance.
• The magic continued just moments later as a long ball from Wood was corralled by Knight and played directly into the box at the feet of junior Colin Vogel. Calm and collected, Vogel laced home the game-winner, stunning the Panthers in the 87th minute.

Recap | Box Score

• Piedmont got things going early in the contest, scoring in the 10th minute. Freshman Mason Keith worked his way through the Eagles defense, affording him a one-on-one opportunity with the Asbury keeper. Colliding with the keeper in the box, Keith was awarded a penalty kick opportunity that senior Jason Aussin buried for his fifth goal of the season.
• The Eagles leveled the contest in the 27th minute after a throw-in bounced around the box and was volleyed home by an Asbury forward. The tied game lasted just under 15 minutes as the Eagles once again found the back of the net, this time with just five minutes left to play in the half.
• Piedmont came out firing on all cylinders in the second half, wasting no time leveling the score line once more. A poor turnover in the defensive third for Asbury led to a strong counterattack from the Lions, where sophomore Delroy Mattis was brought down in the box for another Jason Aussin opportunity from the spot. Nearly identical to the first, Aussin once again buried the chance in the top left corner.
• Fortune continued to favor the Lions, as Asbury once again lost the ball directly off the kickoff. Aussin wasted no time, dancing in the 18 before smashing a left-footed ball in for his hat trick goal just 12 seconds after putting away the penalty.
• Despite going down to ten men in the 53rd minute due to a red card, Keith put home the Lions fourth goal of the game off an assist from sophomore Davis Knight, moving the score line to 4-2. 

Recap | Box Score

• In a contest full of offense, Piedmont was the first to break through. Off a long clearance from a Huntingdon corner, junior Colin Vogel blew past the Hawks' back line and slotted home a one-on-one opportunity for the lead.
• Out of the break, the Lions offense continued to hammer away at the Huntingdon net for insurance, but it was the Hawks to strike next. Despite having just two shots in the second half, Huntingdon capitalized on its limited opportunities and took advantage of a pair of Piedmont mistakes to equalize the contest in the 65th minute.
• Awarded with a free kick chance, the left-footed Cristi Pascaru stepped up and gave the Lions the lead with a brilliant strike.

Recap | Box Score