The Emory University men's soccer team took home the trophy from the Sonny Carter Invitational on Sunday, clinching the tournament victory with a 3-0 win over Hampden-Sydney College, behind a five-point effort from junior Zach Samuels.

Samuels had his hand in all three Emory goals during the game, assisting on the first two, and scoring the final goal of the contest on his own.

The Eagles jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the 23^rd minute, as Jake Graetz scored his second header goal in as many games.  Graetz was able to convert off Samuels' corner kick, giving the junior his team-leading second assist of the campaign.  Graetz has now scored the Eagles' game-winning goal in each of the last two Emory contests, matching his total from all of last season.

Samuels would add on his second assist of the game and third of the season in the second half, as his crossing pass found junior Nao Masuda, who headed the ball into the back of the net for his second goal of the season.  The goal not only gave the Eagles a 2-0 lead, but clinched the Sonny Carter Invitational cup for Emory, based on goal differential over Oglethorpe University.

Samuels added on his first goal of the season to cap off the contest, scoring unassisted in the 77^th minute, giving Emory a commanding three-goal lead.  Samuels ended the game as Emory's leading scorer this season, with one goal and three assists for five total points.

Emory's defense held tight, allowing just nine shots, only five of which were on goal.  Emory's junior goalkeeper Trenton Spindler earned his second shutout in three games this season, turning away all five shots, while lowering his season goals against average to 0.33.

For his efforts during the tournament both defensively and offensively, Emory sophomore defender Andrew Natalino was named the Most Valuable Player of the Sonny Carter Invitational.  Natalino scored a goal in the first contest of the tournament, and held Emory's opponents to just 11 shots on goal and one goal scored during the two games, while playing all 180 minutes.  This was Natalino's second all-Sonny Carter Invitational team selection.

Also earning all-tournament team honors for Emory for the second year in a row were Graetz and senior defender Nathan McKeever.  Samuels and Spindler each earned their first all-tournament team selections.

With the win, Emory improved to 3-0-0 on the campaign, while Hampden-Sydney dropped to 1-2-0.  Oglethorpe finished second in the tournament with a 2-0-0 record as well (but lost the tiebreaker due to goal differential), while Hampden-Sydney finished third, followed by Illinois Wesleyan University.

The Eagles will next head to the Lynchburg Kick-Off Classic in Lynchburg, VA for their first road games of the season.  Emory will take on Randolph College on Saturday, September 11^th at 1:30 PM and Lynchburg College on Sunday, September 12^th at 11:00 AM.