GREENWOOD – The Lander men’s soccer team became just the third team in Peach Belt Conference history to go 9-0 in conference play as the Bearcats throttled Georgia Southwestern, 8-1, on Senior Day at Van Taylor Stadium.
Lander ends the regular season with a 12-3 overall record and an unblemished 9-0 mark in PBC play. Georgia Southwestern ends the year 2-12-1, (1-8).
The Bearcats join the 2013 and 2014 Young Harris Mountain Lions as the only teams in PBC men’s soccer history to achieve 9-0 records in the regular season against conference opponents.
Michael Leach opened up the scoring at 11:07 on an assist from Sam Lofts and returned the favor at 25:01, assisting Lofts to give Lander a 2-0 lead.
Puria Masoumi Far netted his first career goal off a Leach assist at 29:40. Following another goal from Lofts on an assist from Sinclaire Sandy at the 36:52 mark, Far scored again off a Conor Felstead assist to extend Lander’s lead to 5-0.
Jamie North‘s goal at 39:46 off a Richard Bryan pass gave the Bearcats a 6-0 halftime advantage.
Sia Jamedar scored his first goal of the season at 58:42 with help from Far. Ian Rosas made the score 8-0 when he netted his first career goal on a Jamie Lunn assist at the 80:08 mark.
Georgia Southwestern avoided the shutout when John Clark Auer scored at 83:08.
The Bearcats outshot the Hurricanes, 25-3, and led 2-0 in corner kicks.
Joshua Swift grabbed six saves for Georgia Southwestern, while Lander goalkeeper Dean Cowdroy recorded one.
Lander will host the first round of the Peach Belt Conference tournament on Tuesday, Nov. 1, at 7:00 p.m., at Van Taylor Stadium
