Men's Soccer Recap (Week 1) - Around the SCAC

Men's Soccer Recap (Week 1) - Around the SCAC

SUWANEE, Ga. - Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference teams posted a 12-10-2 record during the opening week of the 2011 season. Nine time defending SCAC Champions, the Trinity Tigers, opened up the season with three shutout victories and have jumped to the top spot in the NSCAA National Poll.

- AROUND THE SCAC -

Austin College opened the 2011 season with a pair of wins over East Texas Baptist and LeTourneau respectively. Senior forward Chris Melton led the ‘Roos notching two goals including the game-winner off of a bicycle kick on Friday night against ETBU. Austin College will return to the pitch Tuesday against Howard Payne.

Birmingham-Southern
opened the season by hosting the Jim 'n Nick's/PUMA Labor Day Classic, and split with a 9-0 win against Blackburn College on Friday and a 2-1 loss to Mississippi College on Sunday. Senior Tyler Evans recorded a hat trick against Blackburn, while sophomore Brynjar Arnason had three assists. Freshman Tobias Winter posted two goals in his collegiate debut, and senior Tony Crocker had two assists. Winter also scored BSC's lone goal against MC on Sunday. The Panthers are on the road this weekend, traveling to Sewanee for the Kyle Rote, Jr., Invitational, where they will face Greensboro College and Huntingdon College, Saturday and Sunday.

Centre
traveled to Oberlin College for the Oberlin College Invitational this past weekend, going 1-1-0 in their first two matches of the season.  On Friday night in their season opener, the Colonels fell 2-0 to the Gators of Allegheny College. Despite outshooting Allegheny 10-6 in the match, Centre was unable to take advantage of their opportunities, as the Gators scored a goal late in both halves to get the win. On Saturday night, Centre bounced back for a hard-earned 1-0 victory, taking down the host Yeomen of Oberlin College. A first-half goal from senior Ben Van Nevel (Louisville KY) was enough for the Colonels to earn their first win of the 2011 campaign. Centre prepares to host the 22nd Annual Bob Allen Nissan Classic this weekend at home in Danville, KY, taking on Hanover College on Friday night and Baldwin-Wallace College on Saturday night.

Sophomore forward Sean Parham scored 2:23 into overtime as Colorado College stunned CU-Colorado Springs, 4-3, in the season opener for both teams. The Tigers had to re-gain their composure after the Division II Mountain Lions scored a pair of late goals to erase a 3-1 deficit. But unlike a year ago when Colorado College dropped a 3-2 decision in overtime, the Tigers scored the deciding goal and snapped a two-game skid against their cross-town rivals. Parham struck for the first game-winning goal of his career from six yards out, putting the shot over the outstretched arms of UCCS junior goalkeeper Jarod Thomas and just under the crossbar. Junior forward Matt Fechter picked up his third assist of the game, the first game-winning assist of his career off a bicycle kick from 15 yards out on the left side. As the Mountain Lions' defenders turned toward the goal, Parham was left unattended in the middle of the box. Junior goalkeeper Brian Graf stopped six shots in his collegiate debut. He nearly stopped a penalty kick in the 75 minute, but the shot went off his hands and inside the left post. Junior forward Daniel Wright netted his first career goal on CC's first of the contest in the 13th minute after taking a feed from Parham and putting a shot from the right side into the upper left corner. Nearly 17 minutes later, junior midfielder Keith Drury buried a header off a perfect serve by Fechter from outside the box on the right side. It marked the first time the Tigers scored more than three goals in a single contest since a 6-1 victory over Oglethorpe University on Oct. 18, 2009. In fact, CC did not score more than twice in any game last season. Colorado College came from behind to salvage a 1-1 tie against Kean University on Saturday afternoon at Stewart Field, but the Tigers certainly weren't celebrating after the clock ran out. They were too busy lamenting the many missed opportunities that could have resulted in a victory. In Saturday’s 1-1 tie with Kean University, Parham found the net in the 59th minute, blasting a crossing shot past Cougar goalkeeper Tyler Callhan from 12 yards out to square the game. Fechter started the play with a back flick in the midfield that went directly to junior forward Daniel Wright, who directed the ball to Parham who was making a run toward the right post. In his first collegiate appearance, junior goalkeeper Forrest Marowitz made four saves, including one in overtime, during his 65 minutes of playing time. Graf stopped three shots in the first half, including a denial on a shot from the center of the box. Colorado College played host the University of Minnesota Morris on Monday, and then travels to Minnesota for games at St. Olaf College and Carleton College next Saturday and Sunday, respectively.

Dallas
opened the season with tough 2-0 loss against La Verne Friday, September 2nd. The Crusaders will return to the field September the 6th to face off against East Texas Baptist University.

Hendrix
opened up the season at LeTourneau on Friday night. LeTourneau scored on a miscommunication between the Warrior’s center back and goal keeper, leaving the ball at the feet of LeTourneau’s forward to easily finish. The Warriors continued to fight and finally got their equalizer from Connor Silvestri on a nice run into the box. Both teams continued to battle and were able to beat the darkness to finish the game at 1-1. Both teams had opportunities in the OT to win the game but came up short. On Saturday, the Hendrix Men’s team battled East Texas Baptist University. Hendrix controlled most of the first half but couldn’t put a ball in the back of the net. Finally, in the 84th minute, senior Duncan Keegan sent in a beautiful ball to the back post to Connor Silvestri, who finished it off with a diving header. Silvestri notched his second goal on the weekend. The Warriors will play at University of the Ozarks on Wednesday, September 7th and then travel to Louisiana College on Saturday. The come home to host Westminster College on Sunday.

Millsaps
Soccer Team got off to a rough start this past week dropping all three of their contests by a combined 7-0. After putting up three goals in a scrimmage against Brilla, the Majors could not get any offense going throughout the entire week. The Majors dropped their opener on the road at Louisiana College 2-0 before traveling to Memphis and dropping two more games to the Ozarks, 2-0 and Maryville College, 3-0. The Majors return to action this Friday for their home opener against East Texas Baptist University at 7 p.m.

Oglethorpe
competed in the Piedmont Invitational this past weekend and split two contests against Guilford (W, 2-1) and Berry (L, 2-1). The Petrels began the season with a victory over Guilford as Oglethorpe netted two goals in an 8 minute span in the second half to guide them to the win. Oglethorpe got the first tally in the 61st minute on a strike from Ben Robertson that was assisted by Jakub Madej. Moments later in the 68th minute Aaron Walker nailed a free kick from 25 yards out past a defenseless keeper for the game winner. On Sunday the Petrels were done in by the Vikings of Berry College, 2-1. The Petrels jumped in front 1-0 in the first half on a strike from Mark Lavery but had to play a man down the final 35 minutes and the Vikings took advantage. Oglethorpe is now 1-1 on the season and will face Rowan and Methodist this coming weekend in the Sonny Carter Invitational held on Emory’s Decatur campus.

Rhodes
split a pair of games on the opening weekend of the 2011 soccer season. The Lynx fell 7-1 against a solid Maryville team before bouncing back to defeat Ozarks 3-2. In a game that saw all five goals in the second half Michael Rubin posted a goal and an assist in the victory.

Sewanee
opened their season as they split a pair of matches at the BSC/PUMA Labor Day Classic. In their victory on Sunday junior Devon Ball posted a pair of quick goals helping Sewanee to a 4-0 win over Blackburn College.

Southwestern
opened the season on Thursday afternoon with a 5-1 routing of Texas Lutheran University. Five different Pirates scored in the contest as SU outshot the Bulldogs 29-7. Saturday brought a much tougher match against the always talented UT Tyler. SU was first on the board with a goal by Matt Nickell in the 20th minute, but the Patriots were able to tie the game five minutes later and then scored the game winner in the 66th minute to give SU their first loss, 2-1. Labor Day was no day of rest for the Pirates as they faced new NCAA Division III team, Greenville College, in a neutral site match. 110 minutes proved not to be enough as the game ended in a 1-1 tie. After the opening week of play the Pirates sit at 1-1-1 on the year. They head to Richardson, Texas to face UT Dallas on Friday at 7:30pm before facing Hardin-Simmons in a neutral-site match on Saturday at 5:30pm.

No. 9 Trinity opened its season with three shutout wins at home over the weekend, defeating Schreiner, Greenville (IL), and UT-Tyler. The matchup with UT-Tyler was a rematch from last year’s NCAA Second Round Playoff, which ended in a tie. The Tigers advanced on penalty kicks to eliminate the Patriots from the postseason. The Tigers opened up Thursday with a 5-0 win over Schreiner, then edged Greenville 1-0 on Saturday evening. On Labor Day, the Tigers scored a 3-0 win over UT-Tyler to finish off its first week of action. Trinity will go on the road for the first time this season on Friday and Saturday in Richardson, Texas. The Tigers will face Hardin-Simmons on Friday, followed by a game at UT-Dallas on Saturday.

To view the entire SCAC Kicks Weekly for week one, click here.
Happy Holidays from the SCAC!
December 25, 2011 Happy Holidays from the SCAC!