Houston – The Centenary men's soccer team is back on the road as the Maroon and White will face the University of St. Thomas Celts in a Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference match on Friday set for 7:30 p.m. at SaberCats Stadium.
Live stats and live video are available for the match at the links below:
Stats: https://ustcelts.com/sports/msoc/2023-24/boxscores/20231020_aovh.xml
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5-G-Od3c3Q
The Gents (4-6-3, 1-3-1 SCAC) tied the Austin College 'Roos on Sunday in Sherman, Texas while the Celts (10-2-1, 3-2 SCAC) recorded a 6-1 win at Dallas on Sunday and have won three in a row. Centenary is 1-2-2 on the road this season and St. Thomas is 5-2 at home.
The Celts lead an abbreviated all-time series with the Gents, 4-0-1, as the first match between the two was on Oct. 18, 2019. St. Thomas joined the SCAC prior to that season. The Gents fell 7-2 to the Celts in Houston in their final match last season.
The most memorable match between the two came back on April 25, 2021 as the No. 6 seed Centenary men's soccer team claimed the 2020-21 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Men's Soccer Championship over the fifth-seeded Celts at Mayo Field, besting them, 3-1, in a penalty kick shootout as the Gents won their first conference championship in the division III era.
Centenary and Austin College each scored a pair of goals in the first half on Sunday and then played 45 minutes of scoreless action to finish in the tie. The Gents, who earned a comeback 3-1 win last Friday over the University of Dallas Crusaders in Irving, scored multiple goals in a match for the sixth time this season. The Gents fell behind 1-0 to Dallas on Friday and then scored three goals in the final 20 minutes to snap a three-game losing streak.
The Gents also fell behind on Sunday, but did not fold. Louis Catchpole's 12th goal of the season gave Austin College a 1-0 lead in the 22nd minute and less than a minute later, Pierce Wear found the net for the fifth time this season for a 2-0 lead.
Roughly 10 minutes later, freshman D Leo Marquez (Katy, Texas) scored his first-career goal to cut the Gents' deficit to 2-1. Junior D Nick Valero (Dallas, Texas) registered the assist, the first of his career. In the 40th minute, freshman F Fernando Santos (Bridgeport, Texas) tied the match at 2-2 with his first-career goal.
Gents' junior GK Casey Clemo (Forney, Texas) tallied an unusual assist as he saved Sam Spencer's shot and punted a long, wind-aided ball all the way to the Austin College end of the field that Santos corralled and deposited into the back of the net past 'Roos GK Jayson Baldwin. Clemo went the distance and also registered a career-best 12 saves and his first shutout.
Clemo currently ranks second in the conference in saves (45) and is sixth in goals against average (GAA) at 1.76. Junior Sam Brocato (Leesville, La.) has played in six matches and made four starts as he has shared time with Clemo but has missed the last three due to an injury. He has made 24 saves, eighth-most in the conference, with a season-high seven against Howard Payne on Sept. 23.
Senior F Rene Escobar (Cypress, Texas) is the Gents' leader in goals with three and points with eight. Senior F/MF Michael Smith (Baton Rouge, La.) and Escobar share the lead in assists with two. Junior F Ron Masti (Houston, Texas), senior MF Hunter Booth (Harrodsburg, Ky.), and senior D Adam Bihler (Pittsburgh, Pa.) each have two goals.
Booth scored his first two goals of the season in Friday's win at Dallas and Bihler also scored. Twelve different Gents have scored a goal this season and eight have tallied at least one assist.
The Gents are currently seventh in the SCAC standings while the Celts are in a three-way tie for third. The Celts will serve as the host for the 2023 SCAC Men's Soccer Championship Nov. 3-5 in Houston as the top four teams at the end of the regular season qualify.
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.
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