Shreveport- The Centenary men's soccer team moved to 2-0 in Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference play as the Gents recorded a thrilling 4-2 victory over the Austin College 'Roos on Saturday night in an intense match at Mayo Field.
The Gents (2-1-1, 2-0 SCAC) scored three second-half goals to break a 1-1 halftime tie and put away the 'Roos (0-1, 0-1 SCAC). The hard-fought match featured 30 total fouls, multiple yellow cards, and a pair of red cards. Centenary sophomore midfielder Jaden Harmon (Houston, Texas) received a red card just minutes into the match putting the Gents a man down for the remainder of the night.
The 'Roos struck first as Xander Spurlock found the net off the assist from Cesar Escobar in the 19th minute for a 1-0 lead. The Gents tied the game in the 32nd minute as sophomore midfielder Andres Bautista (Houston, Texas) collected a deflected ball close to the goal following a well-played free kick from sophomore defender Xavier Noyola-Ramirez (College Station, Texas) and rifled it past Austin's goalkeeper Connor Tullis for the tying goal, his second of the season. Bautista, the reigning SCAC Men's Soccer Offensive Player of the Week, scored the lone goal in the Gents' gritty 1-0 win over Dallas last Sunday to earn the honor for the first time and now has eight goals in his young career.
The first ended in a 1-1 tie with each team taking eight shots, setting up an exciting final 45 minutes of action. The Gents took the lead 15 minutes into the second half as freshman Jose luis Uriostegui (Houston, Texas) scored his first career goal. Noyola-Ramirez played a long ball to Bautista who then fed it to Uriostegui to his right who then found the net past 'Roos GK Aaron Hoffman for the 2-1 Centenary advantage.
Just over 10 minutes later, Austin College tied the game as Diego Rodriguez scored at the 72:55 mark to make it a 2-2 game. Three minutes later, sophomore midfielder Jaron Petreas (Denton, Texas) nailed a free kick over a wall of 'Roos defenders, curling the ball into the top left corner of the net for a 3-2 Centenary lead. Five minutes later Petreas struck again on another free kick to extend Centenary's lead to 4-2. The goals were the first for Petreas of the season and he now has three in his career.
Gents' junior goalkeeper Sami Borchalli (Lafayette, La.) played all 90 minutes and made two saves and now has 229 in his career to rank second all-time in program history in the division III (2011-present) era. Austin College used a pair of goalkeepers, as Tullis started and played the first half and was replaced by Hoffman, who allowed the final three goals. Centenary finished with a 17-16 edgs in shots, seven of which were on goal.
Centenary was not fazed following the early loss of Harmon after his red card, as the Maroon and White played two men down for nearly 40 minutes of its 2-2 double-overtime tie at home versus East Texas Baptist on Feb. 23 and fed off that experience and adversity on Saturday. The Gents have now won nine of their last 14 home games dating back to the beginning of last season and have opened 2-0 in conference play for the second-straight season. The four goals scored on Saturday night is also the most goals the Gents have scored in a game since scoring six in a 6-3 home win over Louisiana College on Oct. 21, 2019.
The Gents will now hit the road for three matches in a row beginning with a contest at St. Thomas on Saturday, 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.
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