JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Much has been asked of Griffin Kelly this season. Over the summer, Head Coach Mauricio Ruiz felt the junior would be more valuable to the Dolphins' backline, asking him to make the switch from midfielder to defender, and later named Kelly team captain. The best captains are able to motivate their teammates and what better way to build morale then to end the teams winless skid.

JU men's soccer team played its first of two evening, mid-week games on Tuesday evening and ended the match with a 1-0 shutout victory over Campbell. Kelly's header in the 88th minute was the game-winner.

"We saw a fight tonight," said Ruiz. "The team didn't have a good first half but figured out a way not to lose. I'm proud of the guys for battling in the end. We were not going to get out of here [Southern Oak] with another loss."

"Griffin is showing a lot of maturity," continued Ruiz. "He is Mr. Consistency. He does what we ask him to do and he's learning and getting better everyday. He's one of the most hardworking players that we have on the field, and for him to get the game-winning goal, as a defender which is uncommon, is a good boost for the team."

Following a scoreless half, Coach Ruiz asked for one of his players to step up and spark JU's quiet offense.  The teams played evenly through the entire match and as the clock winded down, it seemed an overtime period would be inevitable. 

Christian Hernandez, making his second appearance of the season, immediately made his presence known. He entered the match in the 76th minute and assisted the Dolphins in being awarded a corner kick. Through this point, Jacksonville had been awarded five corners and Kelly connected on headers for three of them. At 87:08, Hernandez struck a corner kick toward the near post and Kelly headed it in to seal the Dolphin victory.

"To be honest, I had a lot of good chances and the last few headers where really close," said Kelly. "It's kind of cliché but I had a feeling that last one was going in and luckily it did. This win is huge and gives us so much confidence as we head into conference next week."

In the win, the Dolphins improved to 2-5 while Campbell fell to 3-3. Keeper Marc Meny recorded a pair of saves in his second shutout of the year.

The Dolphins face Georgia Southern at Southern Oak Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 27 at 7 p.m. Atlantic Sun action will begin the following Wednesday as Florida Gulf Coast visits on Oct. 1.