Shreveport- The Centenary men's soccer team earned a hard-fought 2-2 tie in double overtime against the East Texas Baptist University Tigers on Tuesday evening in a non-conference match at Mayo Field.
The Gents (0-1-1) took the field for the first time in nearly a month having last played on Jan. 30, a 2-0 loss in their season opener at home to LeTourneau. ETBU (1-1-1) was in a similar position as the Tigers were in action for the first time since a 1-0 win over Louisiana College on Feb. 12 and had their last two matches postponed or cancelled due to weather. Centenary had two matches against LSUS cancelled and had its Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference opener originally scheduled for Feb. 20 postponed. The Gents and Tigers were originally supposed to meet in Marshall, Texas on the Tigers' home field back on Feb. 5 but weather postponed the match.
ETBU got on the scoreboard first just 12:14 into the match as forward Isaiah Simien scored on a penalty kick following a red card on Centenary sophomore midfielder Jaron Petreas (Denton, Texas). The Tigers took their 1-0 lead into the half.
Senior Greg Petreas (Denton, Texas), the older brother of Jaron, tied the match just over a minute into the second half off the assist from sophomore midfielder Andres Bautista (Houston, Texas) for the Gents' first goal of the season. Petreas now owns four career goals. Just over eight minutes later, at the 45:53 mark of the half, freshman midfielder Matthew Hern (Southlake, Texas) found the net to give the Gents a 2-1 lead with the assist going to sophomore defender Quentin Helm (Denton, Texas).
Gents' freshman defender Edgar Zaragoza (Fort Worth, Texas) received the Maroon and White's second red card of the evening in the 79th minute, leaving the Gents shorthanded and playing two men down, just nine to ETBU's 11 for the remainder of the night. The match remained deadlocked for the next 30 minutes following Hern's goal until the Tigers' Matthew Dieb tied it 2-2 in the 82nd minute with an assist credited to teammate Juan Cairo.
Centenary, despite being at a disadvantage, battled for the next 18 minutes of regulation and 20 minutes of overtime periods to earn the tie. Gents' junior goalkeeper Sami Borchalli (Lafayette, La.) played all 110 minutes, recording six saves and allowing the two goals. The junior, who earned Honorable Mention all-conference honors last season, owns 223 career saves which ranks second all-time in program history in the division III (2012-present) era.
Borchalli collected 94 saves last season, the seventh-best total in a single season in the division III era and posted a 1.63 goals against average, the second-best GAA in a single season in the division III era and also recorded four shutouts, second-most in a single season in the division III era and tied for first in the SCAC. His goals against average ranked eighth in the SCAC, he ranked second in the conference in save percentage of .803 and saves. He also led the SCAC in saves per game (6.71).
ETBU's Cristian Hernandez and Gunner Barry split keeper duties for the Tigers on Tuesday. Barry started and played 66:42 and made two saves. Hernandez relieved and totaled 43:18 of playing time and allowed both Gents' goals and recorded one save.
The Tigers took 16 shots on the night to eight for the Gents and each team took seven corner kicks. The game featured 14 total fouls and six total cards (four yellow cards and the two red cards).
Centenary will face Dallas at Mayo Field on March 6 at Noon in its next scheduled game followed by Austin College in another home match on March 13 at 7 p.m. The Gents then hit the road for three matches in a row beginning with a contest at St. Thomas on March 20 followed by matches at Colorado College (March 27) and Southwestern on April 3.
The Gents face Schreiner on April 10 for Senior Day in their home finale and then finish the regular season at Texas Lutheran on April 17. Centenary then will serve as host for the 2021 SCAC Men's Soccer Championship on April 23 and 25 at Mayo Field.
A link to the Gents' complete schedule can be found here: https://www.gocentenary.com/sports/msoc/2020-21/schedule.
Live stats and live video are available for all home matches.
#GoCentenary #CTheOpportunity
