Shreveport - The Centenary men's soccer team continued its recent success at home as the Gents edged the Huntingdon College Hawks 2-1 in a non-conference match on Sunday afternoon at Mayo Field.
The Gents (2-1-1) improved to 13-4-3 in their last 20 home matches while the Hawks dropped to 2-2 with the loss. Centenary blanked Ozarks 2-0 on Friday night and then Ozarks defeated Huntingdon, 5-3, on Saturday evening.
Centenary overcame the loss of starting goalkeeper, senior Sami Borchalli (Lafayette, La.) seconds before the end of the first half to an injury as the Gents broke a 1-1 halftime tie with a second-half score from senior D Diego Hernandez (Carrollton, Texas). The veteran Hernandez scored following a corner kick by fellow senior, MF Cole Schultz (Denham Springs, La.) who received the assist. The same combination teamed up for a second-half goal in Friday night's win.
Huntingdon struck first in the match as Thad Lievens found the net off an assist from Kelan LeBlanc for a 1-0 lead in the 27th minute. Roughly five minutes later, junior MF Jaron Petreas (Denton, Texas) scored on a free kick after being fouled inside the box to tie the match at 1-1. Hernandez' winning goal came in the 49th minute and then Borchalli's replacement, senior GK Patrick Riley (Baton Rouge, La.) and the stingy Gents' defense held the Hawks at bay for the final 42 minutes.
Riley played 45:44 of total time and made two clutch saves, including one with a one-handed punch that knocked the ball away and denied the Hawks a tying goal. Borchalli, who made history on Friday as he recorded his 11th-career shutout, made two saves in his 44 minutes of first-half action. He now has the most shutouts in the division III era (2011-present) in program history. Huntingdon keeper Josh Burton played all 90 minutes and allowed the two goals and made six saves.
Centenary took 18 total shots in the match to 11 for the Hawks, eight shots were on goal for the Gents and five for Huntingdon. The Gents took seven corner kicks to just two for the Hawks and the teams combined for 24 fouls and five yellow cards. The goal was Hernandez' second of the season and third in his career while Petreas scored for the first time after leading the team with three last season.
The Gents will remain at home next weekend to face Belhaven on Friday, Sept. 17 at 7:30 p.m. and then UT Dallas on Sunday, Sept. 19 at 5 p.m.
See the complete Gents' schedule here: https://www.gocentenary.com/sports/msoc/2021-22/schedule
Admission is FREE to all Centenary home athletic contests but be advised of current COVID-19 protocols for fans. Updated COVID-19 information is now available via www.GoCentenary.com. Live stats and live video stream are available for all Centenary home contests.
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