The Oglethorpe men's soccer team remained undefeated in SAA play with a stirring 1-0 victory over Birmingham-Southern Friday night at the Oglethorpe Track and Field. A late goal from freshman midfielder Arturo Hernandez proved to be the difference as the Stormy Petrels improved to 8-2-1 overall on the season and a perfect 3-0 in SAA play.

Hernandez's goal came in the 77th minute of what proved to be a tense contest throughout. Oglethorpe had the ball in the Panthers' end of the field and, though they gave it away, junior midfielder Gustavo Martinez made an excellent play to win the ball back about 30 yards from goal in the middle of the field. He found Hernandez streaking down the right side and laid it off to him. The freshman unleashed a scorching shot toward the far post from the back, right-hand corner of the penalty area. It beat Birmingham-Southern goalkeeper Marvin Castellanos and settled into the upper-left corner of the net, giving the Petrels what proved to be the game-winner.

Leading up to that, each team had chances to push into the lead throughout the game, but both defensive units played very well and didn't allow many truly great scoring opportunities. The Petrels slowly turned up the pressure as the game went on, though, seeing more of the possession in the second half. 

After the Petrels took the lead, they almost found a second. Freshman midfielder Topher Marshall fired a dipping shot from outside of the box that beat Castellanos but didn't quite make it under the crossbar. Martinez collected the rebound and fired a shot just wide of the far post. Despite not killing the game off with a second goal, the Petrels allowed just one real scoring chance to the Panthers after the goal. They committed a foul just outside of the box with 20 seconds remaining, giving the visitors the opportunity to send a ball into the penalty area. The header they got sailed wide, however, effectively ending the game.

Senior goalkeeper Vaughn Moore recorded his third shutout of the season, picking up two saves in the process. The goal was Hernandez's third of the season and the assist was Martinez's first. The Petrels outshot the Panthers 15-6 over the course of the game, but each side put only two shots on goal. The Petrels won six corner kicks to their opponents' two and committed 12 fouls to Birmingham-Southern's 15. Three Panthers were issued yellow cards over the course of the game.

"This was a hard-fought, gritty win," said Head Coach Jon Akin, "which are the type you often need in the heart of the SAA season. I thought both defenses played very well. Birmingham-Southern did an excellent job of causing problems for our attack at times, but we continued to apply pressure throughout the game and it finally paid off with the goal. Overall, a great conference win."

The Petrels now find themselves atop the league standings as one of two undefeated teams. Centre has played one fewer game, though, due to a weather postponement last weekend. Millsaps currently sits in third place at 2-1 and the Petrels welcome them to Salamone Field Sunday at 2:30 p.m.