BOILING SPRINGS – The men’s soccer team claimed their first win of the season Friday night, topping A-Sun foe Belmont 1-0.

The Bulldogs (1-2 A-Sun) were fired up to start off the game. Logan Swaim missed just high not even one minute in and, shortly after, Gardner-Webb connected when Richard Godfrey scored his fifth goal of the season. Godfrey’s goal came in the second minute of play. The goal was assisted by Zach Burkett, who played a nice through-ball into Godfrey. Godfrey placed the shot into the bottom right corner past the outstretched arms of the Bruin’s goalie.

With a 1-0 lead, the Bulldogs buckled down on defense the rest of the way. Both teams looked evenly matched all through the first half, with neither really imposing one’s will upon the other.

Gardner-Webb still showed great ball movement even though they had moved into a defensive role. The Bulldogs had great communication on the field, and put together several good runs off one-touch passing.

Bradley Morrison almost made the game 2-0, but his shot from 18 yards out hit the crossbar. The Bulldogs finally ended their defensive role towards the end of the half, but the score would remain 1-0 going into halftime.

The second half was a grueling battle for Belmont, as the Bulldogs' defense held strong. With both teams tiring, Gardner-Webb's Dane Geraci showed great poise and made a nice save of a potential game-tying shot with just 10 seconds left on the clock to secure the shutout.

Gardner-Webb will rest until Sunday, when they host Lipscomb at 1:00 pm ET on Varsity Field.