Shreveport – The Centenary men's soccer team opened its 2022 season with an impressive 5-0 victory over the Dallas Christian College Crusaders in a non-conference contest on a rain-soaked evening at Mayo Field on Thursday.
The Gents (1-0) and Crusaders (0-2) waited over an hour to resume play as lightning in the area halted the game with just over 15 minutes remaining in the first half and the Gents leading 1-0.
Centenary's offense was not affected by the delay as the Maroon and White recorded a pair of goals in the final five minutes of the opening half to take a 3-0 lead at the break. The Gents added a pair of scores after halftime to cruise to the shutout victory. The five goals are tied for the fourth-most in a single game in the division III era (2011-present) and marked the first time a Centenary team scored five goals in a game since a 5-3 win at ETBU on Aug. 30, 2014. The Gents have now scored 11 goals in their last two games after ending last season with a 6-1 win at Dallas.
Freshman F Aaron Myers (Plano, Texas) had a stellar collegiate debut on Thursday as he scored a pair of goals, as he becomes just the 12th Centenary player in the D3 era to score two goals in a game and the first since senior MF Jaron Petreas (Denton, Texas) did so on March 13, 2021 against Austin College. Petreas scored the Gents' first goal of the game on Thursday, finding the net in the 22nd minute off an assist from fellow senior, D Xavier Noyola-Ramirez (College Station, Texas).
Petreas assisted on Myers' second goal of the match in the 52nd minute, and sophomore MF Brennan Amato (Denham Springs, La.) tallied a pair of assists. Senior D/MF David Barbera (Gonzales, La.) and senior MF Colton Howard (Keller, Texas) each scored a goal and sophomore F/MF Filmon Gazae (Houston, Texas) added his second-career assist on Howard's goal.
Senior GK Sami Borchalli (Lafayette, La.) recorded his 12th career shutout and made one save. Borchalli is one of just two players in the D3 era with double-digit career shutouts and pitched his first since a 2-0 home win over Ozarks (Ark.) last season. Freshman GK Antonio Rubio (Richmond, Texas) relieved Borchalli and played the final 19:06 and made one save. Brandon Flores played all 90 minutes in goal for the Crusaders, making eight saves but allowing the five goals.
Centenary finished with a decisive edge in shots (29-5) and took eight corner kicks to the Crusaders' none. The match featured seven yellow cards and one ejection. The Gents took 13 shots on goal and limited the Crusaders to just two.
The Gents remain at home this weekend as they face Sul Ross State (0-1) on Saturday in a non-conference match set for 7:30 p.m. The Lobos were blanked 5-0 at Belhaven on Thursday night in their season opener. Centenary and Sul Ross State will be meeting for the first time in history on Saturday.
See the complete Gents' schedule here: https://www.gocentenary.com/sports/msoc/2022-23/schedule
Admission is FREE to all Centenary home athletic contests. Live stats and live video stream are available for all Centenary home contests.
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