LYNCHBURG, Va.- Marvin Mendy's fourth goal of the season in the 13th minute lifted the Gardner-Webb men's soccer team (2-9, 1-2 BSC) to a 1-0 victory over Liberty (5-6, 1-2 BSC) in a Big South conference match on Saturday afternoon at Osborne Stadium.
This was the second straight match that Mendy has tallied a goal and the sophomore forward has been on a tear recently, scoring four goals in the last five matches.
William Liles started his fourth straight match in net for the Dogs and recorded two saves to earn his first career shutout and his second victory of the season.
Offensively Liberty outshout GWU 10-6, but the Flames managed just two of those shots on goal, compared to three for the Runnin' Bulldogs. Ali Al-Gashamy paced the Gardner-Webb attack with three shots, while Geovanny Murrillo and Kevin Mendoza each had three shots for the Flames.
On the afternoon, Liberty managed 12 corner kicks, while GWU had just two, but the Flames were not able to tally a shot past Liles and LU would drop their second match at home in as many games.
Liberty got off to a quick start on the offensive end generating three corner kicks and posting two shot attempts in the first 12 minutes of the match.
Gardner-Webb however would come right back and score the only goal of the match in the 13th minute, as Craig Swaby lofted the ball into the box to Mendy, who corralled the ball and shot it into the lower right hand corner to give GWU the 1-0 lead.
Liberty attempted three additional shots in the final 32 minutes of the opening half, but would head into the locker room trailing by a goal.
The Flames put two shots on frame in the opening five minutes of the second half, but Liles stopped both attempts and Gardner-Webb held Liberty without a shot on goal for the remainder of the match and would go on for the 1-0 victory for its first conference victory of the season.
Gardner-Webb returns home for its next match on Wednesday when it hosts UNC Asheville at 6:00 p.m.
