GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Junior Mitchell Simon scored the lone goal of the match early in the second half to give the Spring Arbor University men's soccer team a 1-0 victory over Cornerstone University in the 2016 season opener on Saturday evening.

THE BASICS

FINAL SCORE: Spring Arbor 1, Cornerstone 0

LOCATION: Forest Hill Northern HS – Grand Rapids, Mich.

RECORDS: Spring Arbor 1-0-0, Cornerstone 0-1-0

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Heavy rain and severe weather in the Grand Rapids area earlier in the afternoon made Cornerstone's field unplayable, forcing the match to be moved down the road to a turf field at Forest Hill Northern High School.
• Simon scored what proved to be the game-winning goal for the Cougars in the 50th minute. Freshman Jacob Crull set up the score with a beautiful cross that found fellow freshman Alex Sokalski at the far post. Sokalski headed the ball across the face of the goal to Simon, and the Lansing native put it away.
• Senior goalkeeper Cobi Piper earned his first shutout of the season, turning away all three of the shots he faced.
• Cornerstone finished the night with a 7-6 advantage in shots, but Spring Arbor held a 2-0 edge in corner kicks.

BEYOND THE BOXSCORE

• With the win, the Cougars are 4-0-0 in season openers under Miller, and have defeated the Golden Eagles three consecutive times – all by an identical 1-0 score.
• The goal by Simon was the second of his career – both of which have been game-winners.
• The clean sheet by Piper was the ninth of his career.
• Eight different players made their SAU debut in the match – Hunter Gibbons, Lewis Jones, Sokalski, Aidan Taylor, Crull, Nate Foddrill, Todd Shelly and Addison Clarke.

FOR THE FOES

• Kevin Doornbos had two shots to lead the Golden Eagles while five other players recorded one shot apiece.

QUOTES FROM HEAD COACH NATHAN MILLER

• "It was a positive result today given the pitch conditions. It was very difficult to play how we wanted to with such a narrow and short field. It really challenged us to adjust and change our approach."
• "We had to be strong mentally and we knew the match would be won on a set play given all of the fouls in the match."
• "It was a very stop - start game and a very unusual game to play in. We certainly have a lot to improve on and this coming week will be important."
• "A clean sheet is always a positive and a great pattern to build off of."

UP NEXT

Spring Arbor will travel to Bluefield College in Bluefield, Va. on Saturday, Aug. 27 and follow that with a trip to West Virginia Tech on Monday, Aug. 29.

Men's Soccer Contact: Chris Bauman | 517-750-6504 | christopher.bauman@arbor.edu
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