Shreveport- The Centenary men's soccer team recorded the program's most significant victory in the division III era on Friday as the No. 6 seed Gents defeated the No. 3 seed Colorado College Tigers by a score of 2-1 in a thrilling quarterfinal match of the 2021 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Championship at Mayo Field.
The Gents (4-5-1) serving as the tournament host, won their first SCAC Championship game in their second all-time appearance. Centenary fell 1-0 to Southwestern in the 2012 edition of the championship in San Antonio, Texas in its only other appearance. The Tigers fell to 5-4-1 with Friday's loss.
Centenary advances to Saturday's semifinals to face No. 2 seed Southwestern (4-0-3) in a match scheduled for 3 p.m. Live stats and live video will be available at the links below:
Stats: https://www.gocentenary.com/sports/msoc/2020-21/boxscores/20210424_w816.xml
Video: 2021 SCAC Men's Soccer Quarterfinals
Centenary sophomore MF Andres Bautista (Houston, Texas) opened the scoring with a beautiful score as he used his blazing speed and his usual combination of lethal footwork and balance to break free past the CC defense find the net for an unassisted goal in the 28th minute to give the Gents a 1-0 lead. After a Tiger player headed the ball backwards, CC junior D RoryEastland-Fruit was a tad careless with the ball and allowed Bautista to gain control of it just past midfield and then he outraced two Tigers in pursuit until he drew CC goalkeeper Keleher Felton away from the goal and then rifled the ball into the far back corner of the net for the score.
As the match neared halftime, a pair of Centenary reserves made their presence known as sophomore MF Jaden Harmon (Houston, Texas) received a pass from freshman D/MF Michael Smith (Baton Rouge, La.) and outraced the Tigers' back line and stuck the ball into the back of the net past Felton for a 2-0 lead, sending the large contingent of Centenary students and fellow student-athletes into a frenzy.
Centenary took the 2-0 lead into halftime after taking just six shots in the first 45 minutes but connecting on two important ones. The Tigers took 11 and also took seven corner kicks in the half to none for the Gents but the Maroon and White defense held strong and kept the Tigers off of the scoreboard.
The teams were whistled for a combined 11 fouls in the first half, eight by the Tigers. Sophomore D Noah Johnson was flagged for a yellow card in the 42nd minute, just prior to Harmon's goal, and that card would loom large later.
The Centenary defense held the Tigers scoreless for the first 20 minutes of the second half until freshman D Alexander Ward snuck a ball past Centenary junior GK Sami Borchalli (Lafayette, La.) to cut the Gents' lead to 2-1 in the 66th minute.
Just 12 minutes prior to that goal, Johnson was called for his second yellow card leading to a red and an ejection from the match leaving the Tigers a man down for the remainder of the match. That disadvantage did not deter the Tigers from being aggressive though as the teams battled furiously over the final 25 minutes of the match but the Centenary back line and Borchalli held strong and sealed the match. In fact, with the final 15 seconds ticking away, the nervous Centenary crowd had to endure consecutive corner kicks by CC senior MF Miles Montgomery, giving the Tigers a pair of last-ditch scoring chances. The second and final attempt was diverted and punched away high in the air by Borchalli and as the buzzer sounded a joyous and delirious celebration ensued on the Mayo Field turf.
The Tigers wound up with a decisive advantage in shots (24-13) for the match and took 13 corners to just two for the Gents. Each team was whistled for 12 fouls but all four cards issued in the match went against the Tigers. Felton played all 90 minutes and suffered the loss as he allowed both goals and made five saves. Borchalli went the distance as well and made four key saves.
The Gents and Tigers were meeting for the second time this season as the Tigers recorded a 2-0 victory at home back on March 27. Friday's victory marks just the second time that Centenary has ever beaten Colorado College, and both have come at Mayo Field. The other win came on Oct. 6, 2019, a 2-0 win for the Gents. Centenary improved to 4-1-1 at Mayo Field this season and is now an impressive 11-4-1 in its last 16 home matches.
Saturday's semifinals are set for 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. with Sunday's championship scheduled for 1 p.m. No. 1 seed Trinity (6-0-1, 6-0-1 SCAC) will face No. 5 seed St. Thomas (5-2-3, 4-2-2 SCAC) in the first match on Saturday. The Celts advanced on penalty kicks versus Texas Lutheran in the first quarterfinal match on Friday following two overtime periods as the match was tied 2-2 at the end of regulation.
Links and additional information is also available via the official championship site here: Official Championships Website | Bracket |
The league has also updated its fan policy for all upcoming championship events. Please click here for additional information.
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
