Shreveport - The Centenary men's soccer team looks to continue its recent dominance at home as the Gents face the Belhaven University Blazers and UT Dallas Comets in a pair of non-conference matches this weekend, beginning with a match versus Belhaven set for 7:30 p.m. on Friday at Mayo Field.
Live stats and live video are available for the match at the links below:
Stats: https://www.gocentenary.com/sports/msoc/tournament/boxscores/20210917_w931.xml
Video: https://www.collegetvticket.com/portal/centenary
The Gents (2-1-1) edged the Huntingdon College Hawks 2-1 in a non-conference match last Sunday afternoon at home to improve to a stellar 13-4-3 in their last 20 home matches. Centenary finished off a perfect weekend after the Maroon and White blanked Ozarks 2-0 on Friday night. Belhaven (1-1) defeated Louisiana College, 2-1, on Tuesday in its most recent match.
Centenary overcame the loss of starting goalkeeper, senior Sami Borchalli (Lafayette, La.) seconds before the end of the first half of the Huntingdon match 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 last Friday night's win.
Huntingdon struck first in the match to take 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. 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.
Centenary and Belhaven are meeting for the 14th time on Friday as the Gents hold a 7-4-2 advantage in the all-time series. The last meeting between the two came in 2017 when they tied 1-1 in double overtime in Jackson, Miss.
Friday will be an extra special evening as the 2020-21 SCAC Men's Championship team will be recognized at halftime of the Centenary-Belhaven women's match will precedes the Gents-Blazers match at 5:30 p.m.
The Gents wrap up the weekend on Sunday versus the Comets of UT Dallas in a match set for 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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