Lee University plays its first men’s soccer game under new coach Derek Potteiger tonight at 7 at home in Cleveland against Trevecca Nazarene. The Flames will host Anderson on Saturday night. They lost All-American and two-time first-team All-Gulf South Conference player David Perez plus two All-GSC second-team selections from last year’s senior class but have a solid group of returners plus transfer Craig Quinn from Young Harris and three healthy freshmen. “I am excited about a number of returners, but a few to highlight from front to back are Drew Jackson, Jose Orellana, Samaan Williams, Danny Johnston, Jake Brown, Samir Williams and Jeremy Bonyaa,” Potteiger said in a Lee release. “My vision for playing is fast. ‘Tempo’ and ‘pace’ are words that are going to resound through our program at Lee. … We had a good spring, but I think it will take us a few extra weeks this fall to get fully comfortable in our own skin with the changes I am asking for.”
* The Lee women’s team will open Friday at home against North Georgia at 7 p.m. The Lady Flames went 25-8-6 the past two seasons under coach Chris Hennessey, with NCAA national appearances both years. They were 14-3-2 overall in 2016 and GSC regular-season co-champions with an 11-1 conference record. They lost All-GSC first-teamer and All-American Kinsey Cichowitz but return GSC player of the year Summer Lanter, now a senior, and All-GSC second-teamers McKenzie Bricker, Lauren Peters, Meagan Newman and Haley Gribler. Other proven contributors include seniors Suzanne Arant and Katie Cloud and junior Mia Hollingsworth. Junior Kate Carney and sophomore Riley Engels are transfers from Austin Peay and Trevecca, respectively, and the seven freshmen include another Lanter from Soddy-Daisy, Anna.
* Dalton State finished in a 2-2 tie in women’s soccer Wednesday at Columbia (S.C.) College. The host Koalas (0-2-1) had lost shutouts in their first two games; DSC is 1-0-1.
Cross Country
* The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga cross country teams coached by Andy Meyer were picked to finish fourth in the women’s standings and fifth in the men’s in the Southern Conference this year. Furman got nine first-place votes in each of the coaches’ polls, and East Tennessee State got the other but was third to second-place Samford in both cases. Both UTC teams finished fourth in the 2016 conference meet and open their 2017 season Friday night in the Brooks Memphis Twilight Classic in Memphis. The women’s 5k is set to start at 10:20 p.m. EDT, the men’s 4-mile race at 11. Sophomore Kennedy Thomson is UTC’s top female returner, with Dalton State transfer Emily Poole from Heritage High School also a proven collegiate standout; senior Brennan Huber is a returning second-team all-conference runner for the men.