ELLISVILLE, Ms. It took all 90 minutes, but No. 9 LSU Eunice was able to notch a dramatic goal to help lift the Bengals past Jones College 1-0 on Friday at the Bobcat Soccer Complex. LSUE (4-0) is off to its best start in program history and has won 14 of its last 15 matches, dating back to last season.
Jones College entered the game ranked fifth in the most recent NJCAA Division II polls.
The Bengals knocked on the door all evening but could not produce a goal. LSUE would fire off 12 shots, eight on frame, but none bigger than the final one of the night.
A corner kick in the final minute produced the game winner off the head of captain
Siddiq Lezzar (Houston, TX, The Woodlands College Park HS). After the Bengals swung the ball into the 18-yard box,
Kei Nagakura (Kanagawa, Japan, Club Med Academies) popped the ball up to the far side, was batted around by a Jones defender before
Peyton Foreman (Lafayette, LA, Southside HS) headed it towards goal where Lezzar set off the celebration with a deflection from his head to the far side of the goal.
LSU Eunice kept its clean sheet to start the season intact as the Bengals posted their fourth straight shutout of the early season.
Zachary Clary (Pensacola, FL, Tate HS) snagged four saves, two each in half, in the shutout.
The Bengals' road trip continues next week as LSUE heads to Beaumont to battle North American University on Monday, followed by a NJCAA Division I Top 10 matchup against No. 10 Eastern Florida State from Panama City, Florida on Friday.
