THOMASVILLE, Ga. – The Thomas University men's soccer team improved to 6-1 Sunday afternoon with a comprehensive 3-0 victory over No. 23 Auburn-Montgomery at TU Soccer Complex.
 
The Night Hawks performed well from the opening whistle and finally broke through in the 33rd minute, when Juan Figueroa found space and blasted TU's first quality shot of the day directly at the AUM keeper.  Figueroa's shot was saved, but midfielder Lyle Gifford began his brilliant performance by tapping home the rebound.
 
"Taking down a quality opponent is always good," head coach Ricky Zambrano said of his team's victory. "Winning a secure game and keeping [Auburn-Montgomery] off the scoreboard is what we're most satisfied with.
 
Zambrano's side carried the slim 1-0 lead into the halftime break thanks to Gifford's goal, but a quick start to the second half saw the Night Hawks put the game away.
 
Gifford again bested the Auburn-Montgomery back line in the 52nd minute, finding striker Severin Abt unmarked in the box.  Abt blasted his shot past the Warhawks' keeper, a goal that provided some much-needed breathing room for the 11th-ranked Night Hawks.
 
Gifford was not finished, either, as he all but put the game away in the 59th minute with a spectacular piece of individual play.
 
The senior raced around multiple defenders, tapping the ball around another, before ultimately chipping a shot off the left post and into the side netting.
 
"We consider ourselves one of the deepest teams in the conference, and moments like today show that," Zambrano continued.  "Today it was Lyle, the next day it will be somebody else. That's truly what we expect."
 
"With the [non-conference] schedule we played, finishing 6-1 is good," Zambrano concluded. "Obviously we prefer 7-0, but we learned from Friday and that's most important moving forward.
 
With the 3-0 win, the 11th-ranked Night Hawks improve to 6-1 on the year while No. 23 AUM drops to 5-2-1.
 
Scoring Summary
33:48 – Thomas – Lyle Gifford (assist by Juan Figueroa)
52:40 – Thomas – Severin Abt (assist by Lyle Gifford)
58:15 – Thomas – Lyle Gifford (unassisted)
 
By The Numbers
3 – Goals scored by Lyle Gifford this season
3 – The number of shutouts for defender Donal Branagan as the backbone of the TU defensive line
3 – Yellow Cards received by AUM
5 – Days until Night Hawks play their Sun Conference opener
6 – Wins by Thomas this season
7 – Games started by keeper Ben McFarlane-Barnes
16 – Thomas out-shot AUM 16-11 overall and held an 7-3 edge in shots on goal
 
The Night Hawks open Sun Conference play on Fri., Sept. 25, when they travel to Miami Gardens, Fla., to face Florida Memorial.  First touch is scheduled for 5:00 p.m.
 
For up-to-date information on this game and other TU Athletics, visit http://www.TUNightHawks.com. Stay up-to-date with news, scores, photos, game summaries, play-by-play, and feature stories of your TU men's soccer team by following them via Twitter at @NightHawksMSocc.