Centre Men's Soccer has endured a tough year but still had a lot to play for on Sunday at Amend Field against Oglethorpe. The Colonels needed a win to position themselves for a spot in the SAA Tournament. Despite an early Oglethorpe goal, Centre found something in its offense they had not seen this season, and it led to a 3-goal explosion early in the 2nd half to give the Colonels a decisive 4-1 win.
The first 20 minutes saw each side searching for chances but finding nothing of consequence.
Ryan O'Hara had the first shot on goal early in the 22nd minute but was denied. Oglethorpe cleared the ball away and sprinted on a counter-attack. Just 31 seconds after O'Hara's attempt, the Stormy Petrels put the ball in the net to take the lead.
Zeke Saviello was denied an equalizer in the 26th minute but it showed the Colonels could quickly rebound from falling behind.
It paid off in the 34th minute. Centre earned a corner kick.
Tyler Smith launched a brilliant ball into the right side of the box, where
Ethan Cajuste was waiting with a perfectly timed header. The Oglethorpe keeper had no chance at the ball as Cajuste had perfect pace on the header when it struck the net to bring the match level at 1 going to the half.
The set piece goal lit a fire under Centre's offense that carried over into the 2nd half. On a counter-attack,
Jason Weisheit crossed a perfect ball to
Zeke Saviello, who slammed the ball home to give the Colonels the lead just 1:40 into the half. Weisheit then saw paydirt himself just 35 seconds later. An
Amit Shahar ball in the box came right to a sliding Weisheit, who guided it home for a stunning 3-1 lead.
Centre saw the floodgates open and went for more.
Ryan O'Hara was denied on a shot from the left box in the 51st minute.
Amit Shahar's rebound attempt hit the right post but Centre kept possession in the box. On the left,
Zeke Saviello found the ball and fired it home once more.
Centre had not scored more than 3 goals in a single game all year, and now had done it in just 5 minutes, 48 seconds.
The Colonel defense took over from there as Oglethorpe was never able to muster a serious answer the rest of the way.Â
With the win, Centre moved into 6th place in the SAA standings with 1 game to go in the regular season. With only 6 going to the tournament, Centre has put itself in a win-and-in scenario in the regular season finale. The Colonels will look to lock it up next Saturday night at Sewanee. Kickoff is set for 6:30pm.
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