The Oglethorpe men's soccer team picked up a much-needed 1-0 victory over Rhodes Friday afternoon on Salamone Field, earning their first SAA win of the season. They got a big second-half goal from sophomore defender Micah Akin and made it stand up  for the one-goal victory over the visiting Lynx, who were previously undefeated in SAA play.

The Stormy Petrels again enjoyed a big shot advantage, especially in the first half. For the opening stanza, Oglethorpe outshot their opponents at a 10-3 clip. However, the Rhodes goalkeeper made four saves for the half and his team's defense turned aside numerous other attacks, maintaining the 0-0 scoreline at halftime.

The Petrels were finally able to break through in the second half, though, as all their hard work finally paid off in the 54th minute. Freshman midfielder Hanno Antoni streaked through the center of the Rhodes defense and fired a laser toward the lower-left corner of the goal that the Lynx goalkeeper was able to parry aside. However, he wasn't able to knock it out of play and he didn't have any defensive help in the penalty box. The ball laid enticingly in the box for a rebound opportunity and Akin took advantage for his first career goal. It was, in fact, only his second career shot and his first of this season. Antoni picked up an assist for his efforts, his second of the year.

After the goal, Rhodes went in search of the equalizer. However, they never really were able to trouble sophomore goalkeeper Vaughn Moore, who made two saves on the afternoon en route to his second clean sheet of the season. 

Junior midfielder Nick Muntean fired five shots for the game, putting two of them on goal. Antoni and sophomore forward Joe McGee each recorded three shots and put two of them on goal. 

For the game, Oglethorpe outshot Rhodes 19-10, including 8-3 on goal. Rhodes took four corner kicks to the Petrels' three. The Petrels forced Rhodes to make seven total saves to Oglethorpe's three.

With the victory, the Petrels improve to 6-9-1 on the season, 1-4 in SAA play. They'll celebrate Senior Day on Sunday, when they'll honor the careers of defender Phillip Rawson, forwards Carlos Gaston and Eyal Schechter, and midfielders Aleks Tanjga and Austin Fiddler. They'll take on Hendrix in their final home game of the season, as well, beginning at approximately 2:30 p.m.