Shreveport- The No. 6 seed Centenary men's soccer team claimed the 2020-21 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Men's Soccer Championship on Sunday, besting the No. 5 seed St. Thomas Celts, 3-1, in a penalty kick shootout as the Gents won their first conference championship in the division III era in front of a spirited and supportive crowd at Mayo Field.
The Gents (4-5-3) and Celts (6-2-4) played to a scoreless draw through 90 minutes in regulation and then remained tied through two 10-minute overtime periods. Amazingly, this occurred less than 24 hours after Centenary earned a berth in Sunday's title game for the first time in program history after advancing 3-1 on penalty kicks versus No. 2 seed Southwestern. Centenary becomes the first No. 6 seed in SCAC history to make the final and first to win it. The last men's soccer title for the Gents came in 1990 as members of the NCAA Division I Trans America Athletic Conference (now the ASUN Conference).
Centenary, fueled by a raucous home crowd all weekend, upset No. 3 seed Colorado College 2-1 in Friday's quarterfinals and continued to ride the momentum all the way to Sunday and became the first team in the history of the event to win three games in three days. The Gents and Celts had met earlier this season as St. Thomas protected its home turf with a 1-0 win in Houston on March 20. Centenary was picked to finish eighth out of nine teams this season in the preseason coaches' poll and is the second program in SCAC Tournament history to win the title on home soil, Trinity accomplished the feat back in 2012.
The Celts finished with a 22-11 advantage in shots for the match including a 19-7 edge in the first half. St. Thomas also took six corner kicks in the first 45 minutes while the Gents took just one. The Celts, however, could not take advantage of their multiple opportunities as the Centenary defense held strong, anchored all day long by sensational junior GK Sami Borchalli (Lafayette, La.) who finished the match with five saves and played all 110 minutes for the second day in a row. St. Thomas GK Rodrigo Lazo made two saves but thwarted several dangerous crosses and entries by the Gents' attack throughout the match.
The Gents appeared to take a 1-0 lead in the 24th minute of the first half as sophomore MF Andres Bautista (Houston, Texas) found the net but he was ruled to be offside. Borchalli, as he was all tournament long, was at his best the bigger the moment became. He made several superb saves in the second half and overtime, including one where he appeared to somehow knock the ball away safely from the left corner of the net as he and the post, the ball, and net seemed to meet simultaneously. That bit of magician-like work kept the game deadlocked at 0-0.
In the shootout, Bautista went first and converted his attempt to give the Gents the early advantage. The Celts' Tom Hultsch was first up for his team and he stuck the ball in the net past Borchalli to even it up. Freshman D Rene Escobar (Cypress, Texas) then stepped up and calmly made his attempt and Dany Ramirez's number was called next to even things up but he missed his try. Senior MF Greg Petreas (Denton, Texas) then connected to put Centenary up 3-1.
The pressure was on St. Thomas and Andres Marques delivered the second make. Sophomore David Barbera (Gonzales, La.) then stepped up to the line and made the fourth attempt for the Gents, putting them one make away from sealing the shootout. Oscar Aragon, though, connected to make it 4-3.
Centenary sophomore MF Jaron Petreas (Denton, Texas) then made the walk to the spot with the Centenary faithful knowing a converted attempt would seal the title. Petreas rifled his ball into the back of the net past Lazo to set off an epic celebration on the Mayo turf.
The Gents finished 4-1-3 at home this season and are 11-4-3 in their last 18 home matches. Borchalli was named the Defensive Most Valuable Player for the championship while Bautista earned Offensive honors. Borchalli finished the tournament with 17 saves, allowing just one goal in a staggering 310 total minutes played.
"Hats off to this group for the work they put in and how well they performed, said Centenary head coach Kyle Symczak. "They never wavered and continued to fight hard for each other. This is a special group and I am so honored to have coached them."
Official Championships Website | Interview w/ Head Coach Kyle Symczak | Interview w/ Senior Midfielder Greg Petreas | Tournament Stats | Photos
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.
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