MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The second-ranked Mobile men's soccer team scored early in the first half and late in the second to take a 2-1 edge over Embry-Riddle, in the first game of the Southern States Athletic/Sun Conference Showdown hosted by Auburn Montgomery on Friday. Embry-Riddle moves to 1-1 on the year, while Mobile, the 2010 NAIA national runner-up, goes to 1-0.

The Rams had the better of the run of play early on, outshooting the Eagles 7-3 in the first 45 minutes. Their offensive pressure resulted in an early score just three minutes and 45 second into the match. Michael Azira got the ball out to DeShorn Okai on the right and Okai used his speed to get by the Eagle defense and rifled a shot into the left side netting for a 1-0 Mobile lead.

The Rams continued to pressure the Eagles, but the ERAU defense led by three first-half saves from freshman netminder Nils Carlsson frustrated the Mobile attempts. Meanwhile, the ERAU offense had opportunities to get on the board, including a strike by Sam Fairhurst in the 19th minute and another by Veit Couturier in the 38th minute, but neither team's effort was able to change the score line and Mobile carried the 1-0 edge into the halftime break.

As the second half progressed, the Eagles saw more and more possession and with 15 minutes remaining, their persistence paid off.  The Blue and Gold carried the ball deep into Mobile's half of the field, but briefly lost the ball to the Rams defense. Senior Michael Donald sprinted back to win the Rams' clearance attempt and played the ball into Couturier just outside the 18-yard box. With a deft turn, Couturier split a pair of Mobile defenders and got the ball to Nicklas Petersson whose run got him in behind the defense. Petersson faked a shot on Ram goalie Kyle Buxton and when Buxton fell for the attempt, Petersson maneuvered around the diving keeper and tapped the ball into an open net to make the score 1-1.

Just four minutes later Okai struck again, scoring his second goal of the year to secure the Mobile win.

The Eagles will have just 24 hours to recover as they take on host Auburn Montgomery in the final game of the Southern States Athletic/Sun Conference Challenge. Match time is slated for 3:30 p.m. (CST).