MONTGOMERY, Ala. – On Thursday afternoon in a Southern States Athletic Conference
Tournament semifinal game, the No. 5-seed Southern Polytechnic State University men’s
soccer team advanced to the event’s championship match this Saturday with a 1-0 win over the top-seeded University of Mobile Rams at the Emory Folmar
Soccer Complex. Mobile, which had a nine-game winning streak end and lost to Southern
Polytechnic for the second time this year, is ranked sixth nationally in the NAIA
while the Hornets are No. 13.
“I’m so proud of the whole program tonight,” Southern Poly head coach Kom Momeni said. “We got another shutout on the road against
an excellent team.”
Neither team scored over the first 65 minutes of the contest before SPSU was awarded
a penalty kick. In the 66th minute (65:06), midfielder Adis Islamovic, a Second Team
All-SSAC performer and a member of the All-Freshman Team, kicked in the game-winning
goal and the Hornets held on to post their ninth shutout of the season.
“Mobile was very solid defensively and our PK was hotly contested by them,” Momeni
said. “I’m not sure if they handled the ball in the box.
“I feel that our midfield was the difference today, especially (senior) Andre Santos.”
The Rams outshot Southern Poly 8-4, including 2-1 on goal and 6-1 in the second half.
SPSU had a slight 5-4 edge in corner kicks.
In goal for the winners, senior Dennis Kramer played the full 90 minutes for his fifth
shutout of 2012. The First Team All-SSAC selection came up with two saves.
The Hornets improve to 13-4-1 overall while Mobile is 14-4-1. Southern Poly plays in Saturday’s title game in Montgomery at 3:30 p.m. Central time (4:30 p.m. Eastern) against
the winner between the No. 3-seeded Southern Wesleyan University Warriors and the
second-seeded Auburn University at Montgomery Warhawks with the champion earning an
automatic bid to the NAIA national tournament. Auburn Montgomery is rated eighth nationally
in the NAIA while Southern Wesleyan is No. 11.