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November 1, 2015

PENSACOLA, Fla. – The University of West Florida men's soccer team will open Gulf South Conference tournament play on Tuesday, matching up with the conference's No. 3-seed Lee University. The game will take place in Cleveland, Tennessee, with the winner taking on the No. 2 seed Alabama Huntsville on Friday, Nov. 6, in Livingston, Alabama on the campus of University of West Alabama.

GSC Tournament History

West Florida clinched its 10th consecutive GSC appearance in its win at Spring Hill on Friday. The streak marks as the second longest in GSC history, while the Argonauts men's soccer program owns the most GSC championships (nine) in the history of the conference. The Argos were 2013 Gulf South Conference Tournament champions before falling in last year's first round to Shorter.

UWF holds the best winning percentage and the highest win total in GSC tournament history with a 20-6-1 (.741) mark in postseason play. Defender Japhet Bitsindou is a two-time All GSC Tournament Team selection and the lone player on the West Florida squad to previously hold that honor.

Last Time Out Against Lee

West Florida and Lee battled earlier this season on October 2, as Lee was able to trip the then-No. 15-ranked Argonauts by a score of 2-1. It marked as the first occasion that Lee had beaten UWF, as the Argonauts were an unbeaten 2-0-3 prior to the October matchup. UWF narrowly dropped the contest, as it outshot Lee 11-8 and held a 6-3 advantage in corners. The Argos had a prime opportunity to knot the game at 2-2 from a Felipe Oliveira cross, but the Argos attack was unable to cash in on the opportunity.

Stephen Enderlin recorded the Argos goal, giving UWF a 1-0 lead in the 14th minute. David Perez was able to tie the score in the 21st minute and Jonathan Finlay was able to net the game-winner in the 45th minute, just 38 seconds before the halftime break.

Andre Moreira was in net for the Argos and recorded two saves against the Flames attack.  

Players to Watch

Several players have heated up down the stretch for West Florida and will look to continue their late season success as they begin postseason play.

Senior Jorge Chirinos recorded the game-winning tally against Spring Hill on Friday, while have recorded seven points in his last five games. Chirinos is UWF's leading shot taker, as he currently ranks fifth in the conference with 42 offensive opportunities.

Felipe Oliveira was last week's GSC Player of the Week and has recorded three game-winning goals this season while providing a team-high and career-high five assists. Oliveira tallied an assist on Chirinos' game-winning goal against Spring Hill on Friday. Oliveira is the league leader in game-winning goals and sits seventh in the conference in assists.

Marteinn Urbancic is West Florida's leading scorer, as the junior has tallied six goals and three assists on the year. Urbancic got the scoring started in UWF's 2-1 victory over Spring Hill on Friday, as he converted on a pass from Allan Kuhne to give the Argos a 1-0 lead. Urbancic is seventh in the GSC in points and has played a key part of many UWF wins, as in the eight games Urbancic has recorded a point, West Florida has won seven of those games.

Goalkeepers Andre Moreira and Jacob Murray have split time in net, as their records are 5-3 and 5-2, respectively. Moreira's 1.22 goals against average qualifies as the second best in the GSC,while his .737 save percentage sits as fifth best in the league. Moreira has recorded two shutouts on the year, while Murray has been in net during the other three shutouts. Murray owns a 0.95 goals against average and a .667 save percentage.

Freshmen Kameron Bethell, Stephen Enderlin and Michael Starkey have all made significant contributions so far in their freshman campaigns. Bethell has patrolled the Argonauts midfield, recording three goals and an assist on the 2015 campaign. Enderlin is second on the team in goals and points, as the Little Rock, Arkansas native has recorded five goals and an assist on the year. Starkey leads the team in minutes played as a defender and has tallied an assist on the year. Bethell and Enderlin were the first two recipients of the GSC Freshman of the Week award in 2015.

Defenders Soren Yuhaschek and Japhet Bitsindou have all played a vital role in helping UWF record the best goals against average in the conference and five shutouts on the year. Yuhaschek and Bitsindou are the only two Argonauts to start all 15 games this season.

Scouting Lee

Lee is currently ranked No. 12 in the latest National Soccer Coaches Association of America poll and comes into the GSC tournament as the No. 3-seed. Lee is coming off a 2-1 defeat against Shorter on Friday and currently stand at 11-4-2 overall with a 6-2-1 conference mark.

Shorter was down 1-0 before a goal with 2:10 remaining in regulation pushed the game into overtime. Shorter was able to pull of the come-from-behind victory against the Flames when it scored the game-winning score five and a half minutes into the first overtime period.

Lee's offense is focused around GSC leading goal and point scorer David Perez, who has fifteen goals and five assists on the year. Perez's 15 goals is the most in the GSC since the 2013 season. The Flames offense also features two double-digit point scorers in Quade Marinell (six goals, six assists) and Jonathan Finlay (two goals, six assists). Goalkeeper Tom Halsall owns a 1.55 goals against average, .728 save percentage and 4.19 saves per game average in 16 games.

For information on all UWF athletics, visit www.GoArgos.com.