SAN ANTONIO – With a coveted spot in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament potentially on the line, the Trinity men's soccer team notched a critical 4-2 conference victory over the University of St. Thomas on Friday night.
The Tigers are now 10-2-2 overall and 5-2 in SCAC play, while the Celts dropped to 10-3-1 and 4-3 in conference. Trinity had previously lost its last three games to St. Thomas, including each of the past two meetings in the SCAC Tournament. Tonight's four goals for Trinity are the most by one team in this season since the Tigers won a 5-2 decision in March of the 2021 Spring season.
With the win, Trinity moves into a tie for second in the league standings with both Southwestern University and Texas Lutheran University. Those two teams play Saturday in their regular season finales, while the Tigers host Centenary College in its final regular season game on Sunday. St. Thomas could still reach 15 points with a win over Schreiner University on Sunday, but Trinity would hold the head-to-head tiebreaker and still take one of the four spots in the tournament.
Tonight's game was a back-and-forth battle from the start and each team had eight shots in the first half of play. Both keepers had saves in the first 19 minutes of action, though the teams had just three combined shots during that time period.
In the 24th minute of play, St. Thomas was whistled for a foul just shy of the center circle in Trinity's half of the field. The Tigers played the free kick quickly to the left and across midfield, then switched the attack to the right.
Will Powell (Bexley, England / Beth Grammar School) lofted a cross into the box for
Chen Adjei (Euless, Texas / Trinity), who had his header turned away on an excellent save by the Celts keeper.
Michael Meese (Williamsburg, Va. / Jamestown) was there for the rebound attempt, but another acrobatic save stopped his initial attempt. Meese got the ball right back after his initial attempt and he left no doubt with the second shot to make it a 1-0 Trinity lead.
Trinity goalkeeper
Austin Wilman (Esher, England / Charterhouse School) made a pair of saves shortly after the Tigers took the lead, keeping the Celts off the board for the time being. St. Thomas finally got on the board with under five minutes left in the half, scoring on an off-balance shot that was rocketed past Wilman to make it 1-1 at the break.
St. Thomas was back at it after halftime, scoring its second straight goal to take a 2-1 lead in the 53rd minute of play. Just minutes later, the Tigers were able to equalize on another goal from Meese. St. Thomas committed a foul just outside the top right corner of the box, stepping front of
Joseph Kuri (San Antonio, Texas / TMI Episcopal) to stop his advancement towards the goal.
Jack Eubank (Raleigh, N.C. / Needham Broughton) took the free kick to the far post and the St. Thomas goalkeeper got both hands on it, but was knocked down by his own player trying to challenge a Tiger player for the ball. Meese headed the loose ball out of the air and past a pair of Celts defenders to make the game level again at 2-2 with just over 34 minutes left in the game.
Almost exactly six minutes after tying the game, Trinity reclaimed the lead with another goal. This time it was a counterattack after St. Thomas had a shot blocked that richocheted to the feet of Meese near midfield. Adjei was racing down the left side of the field and the pass led him past the defense into the open field. Adjei made his way into the box and unleashed a shot that deflected off the keeper and into the net for a 3-2 Trinity lead in the 62nd minute.
St. Thomas had several more attempts at goal as they scrambled to tie things up again, but none of the shots were on target. The best chance for the Celts came with under six minutes to play as Wilman came out to grab a deep cross, but couldn't control the ball. He did manage to deflect the ball as it was struck towards goal, and then the Celts had a shot into the empty net that went over the bar.
In the closing moments of the game, Meese found himself behind the St. Thomas defense as the Tigers pushed a clearance forward to him. Meese's run brought the keeper out and then Meese slipped around the goalie for what would have been an empty-netter, but the keeper brought him down inside the box for the penalty.
Jack Downes (Sheffield, England / Queen Ethelburgas) scored the PK goal with just 2:23 remaining to put the game on ice for the Tigers.
Trinity will host Centenary in the regular season finale at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday and the Tigers will honor their senior class prior to the game.
