Shreveport – The Centenary men's soccer team opens Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference play on Friday evening at home as the Gents welcome the Colorado College Tigers to Mayo Field for a match set for 7 p.m.
Live stats and live video are available for the match at the links below:
Stats: https://www.gocentenary.com/sports/msoc/2023-24/boxscores/20230929_mhhn.xml
Video: https://www.youtube.com/live/Pq-LKfjKY2o?si=MtUNeQ0vSBuK-tPn
The Gents (3-3-2) return to action after they recorded a 3-2 comeback victory over the Howard Payne University Yellow Jackets in a non-conference contest on Saturday at home. The Tigers (5-2-1) defeated UC Santa Cruz at home on Sunday by a score of 2-0 and have won two matches in a row. Colorado College owns a decisive advantage (17-3) in the all-time series, but the Gents have beaten the Tigers three times at Mayo Field and twice in the last four years.
Centenary, 3-0-1 at home this season and 5-2-5 at Mayo Field over the last two seasons, fell behind Howard Payne 2-1 early in the second half last Saturday, but scored the match's final two goals to secure the home win. Freshman D Dylan Clark (Allen, Texas) converted a penalty kick in the 75th minute for a 3-2 lead and the game-winning score.
Centenary's aggressive defense made the lead hold up over the final 15 minutes as the Maroon and White snapped a two-game losing streak and surpassed last season's win total in the process. Junior Sam Brocato (Leesville, La.) made his third start and picked up the win as he played all 90 minutes and made a season-best seven saves. Brocato, who has split time this season with junior Casey Clemo (Forney, Texas), has a 1-1-2 record with 16 saves and a shutout this season. Clemo has started four games and is tied for seventh in the conference in saves with 19 and is also seventh in goals against average (GAA) at 1.82.
Senior D Adam Bihler tied the match with his first goal of the season and second of his career, assisted by senior F/MF Michael Smith (Baton Rouge, La.). Senior F Rene Escobar (Cypress, Texas) scored off an assist from freshman F Zack Bowers (Missouri City, Texas) to give the Gents a 2-1 lead.
Escobar is the team leader in both goals (three) and points (seven), and Smith is the Gents' leader in assists with two. Junior F Ron Masti (Houston, Texas) is second on the team in goals with two and has one assist for a total of five points. Ten different Gents have scored a goal this season and seven have tallied at least one assist.
Colorado College's keeper, Jasper Broad, ranks fifth in the league in GAA (1.25) and is tied for seventh in saves with Clemo (19). He owns a 5-2-1 record and one shutout. Oliver Ramirez is the Tigers' leading goal-scorer with five and also leads in assists (three) and points (13).
The Tigers were predicted to finish third this season in the SCAC Preseason poll while the Gents were picked eighth. The 2023 SCAC Men's Soccer Tournament will be held in November at Sabercat Stadium in Houston as semifinal matches will be contested on Friday, Nov. 3 and the championship match being played on Sunday, Nov. 5 with the University of St. Thomas serving as host.
See the complete Gents' schedule here: https://www.gocentenary.com/sports/msoc/2023-24/schedule
Admission is FREE to all Centenary home athletic contests. Live stats and live video stream are available for all Centenary home contests.
#GoCentenary #CTheOpportunity
