Memphis, Tenn. – Lynn University's offense picked up after a sluggish preseason by opening the 2010 campaign with a 5-1 victory over Lambuth Friday evening. The 23rd-ranked Fighting Knights got multi-goal games from Scott Gordon and Ewan Clarke while Harald Gracholski added a goal and assist. This marks the 15th consecutive year Lynn has won its season opener.
"We struggled to score goals in preseason but did a great job ofconverting on our chances in today's match," said head coach John Rootes. "This was a great team effort as Ewan [Clarke] and Scott [Gordon] each scored some nice goals while players like Joey Maxson, Stefan Wolf and Joe Cundall stepped up to make big plays.
Stymied for much of the first half, Gordon finally got the Blue & White on the board in the 39th minute when he scored on a free kick from nearly 30 yards out on the right wing. Lambuth (0-1) hoped to escape the half down by just one but Clarke had other thoughts. The redshirt freshman slipped his shot past Brett Kozicskowski with just forty seconds remaining to play sending LU into the locker room with a 2-0 lead.
The floodgates opened with the clock showing 61:36 on the scoreboard. Gordon netted his second goal of the night, converting on a second free kick, this time from the left wing. Gracholski got into the scoring action minutes later when he found the back of the net following a botched clearance and one-on-one take with the keeper.
Lambuth hoped a switch of keepers would change its luck but fortunately for the Knights it didn't. Trying to score from a corner kick, Robert Carrick sent in a pass towards the box that was picked up by Kyle Conrad. The senior midfielder looked for the shot but instead found Clarke unmarked near the left post for the easy tap-in.
The only blemish against the Blue & White came towards the end of thecontest with the game well in hand. A failed clearance ricocheted off an LU players arm, giving the Eagles a penalty kick.
Alessandro Salvatore was solid in net, stopping four of the five shots on goal. Lynn's defensive unit of Gordon, Maxson, Wolf and Eyjolfur Eyjolfsson allowed just one shot in the second half.
The Fighting Knights return to action on Sunday, September 5, at 2:30 Eastern Time when they take on Christian Brothers. Lynn is 10-1 all-time against the Buccaneers and won 2-1 in overtime the last time they faced them in Memphis.
