SAN ANTONIO – The Trinity University men's soccer team closed out the regular season with a 6-1 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference win over Centenary College on Sunday afternoon.
The Tigers improved to 11-2-2 overall and 6-2-0 in conference play, clinching the No. 2 seed at next weekend's SCAC Tournament. The Gents dropped to 4-8-3 overall and 1-5-1 in SCAC.
Prior to the game, Trinity's 12 seniors were honored:
Austin Wilman (Esher, England / Charterhouse School),
Pieter Blank (The Hague, The Netherlands / Dalton Voorburg),
Jack Eubank (Raleigh, N.C. / Needham Broughton),
Chen Adjei (Euless, Texas / Trinity),
Luke Newport (Austin, Texas / Austin),
Louie Instrall (London, England / Hampton School),
Joseph Kuri (San Antonio, Texas / TMI Episcopal),
JonConnor Rule (San Antonio, Texas / Johnson),
Ryan Cordner (Vero Beach, Fla. / Sebastian River),
Alan McGuire (Austin, Texas / Anderson),
Jesus Veloz (Dallas, Texas / Lone Star), and
Jack Downes (Sheffied, England / Queen Ethelburgas).
Trinity scored the first two goals of the game and looked to be firmly in control, but Centenary converted its first shot into a goal to cut into the lead in the 32nd minute. The game remained 2-1 at the half, but the Tigers came out of the break with two goals in just over 10 minutes of play to end any hopes of an upset. Trinity added two more goals later in the game to fully put the game out of reach.
Adjei celebrated Senior Day with a pair of goals, while Downes also got in the scoring and netted the eventual game-winner. Eubank also picked up an assist in his final regular season home game.
The Rundown
Trinity had plenty of chances early in the game, but the game remained scoreless until the 25th minute of play when Adjei scored his first of the game. Adjei tried to connect with
Michael Meese (Williamsburg, Va. / Jamestown) at the top of the box, but Centenary was able to clear the ball away. Veloz brought the ball down out of the air and immediately pushed forward to Downes, who then played it across to Adjei near the top of the box. Adjei hesitated at first, then beat his defender to find an open space, and scored with a near-post shot from 18 yards out.
Just under four minutes later, Veloz was fouled trying to make his way towards the box to set up a free kick about 20 yards from goal. Downes curled his shot around the wall and into the net for the eventual game-winner and a 2-0 lead at the time. The second goal seemed to give the Gents a shot of adrenaline as the visitors got more active after that. Centenary cashed in on the action as well with a goal in the 32nd minute to make it a 2-1 game.
Trinity had 17 shots in each half of the game and held Centenary to two total shots, but the lead was just one at the half. The adjustments made during the break worked as the Tigers came out with a renewed sense of purpose. Kuri opened the window of opportunity by earning a corner kick on his attack down the right side of the field. Eubank came forward to take the corner and swung it in towards the near post, where Adjei knocked it in for his second score and a 3-1 Tiger lead.
In the 56th minute, Centenary turned away the initial attack by Trinity, but Instrall stole the ball back before the Gents could clear it. He passed it on to
Braden Shuey (Frisco, Texas / Wakeland), who reversed directions and turned towards the box. Meese had his defender pinned behind him and Shuey slid the pass right to Meese's feet. Meese turned and rolled his shot in past the keeper for a 4-1 advantage.
Just shy of 10 minutes later, the Tigers were at it again. This time it was
Zach Anderson (Davis, Calif. / Davis) and
Hunter Cain (Katy, Texas / Cinco Ranch) who connected for the score. Trinity was searching for the right spot to attack when Anderson took a pass and made his move towards the end line. He beat the defender to his spot and sailed the ball across the face of the goal where Cain knocked it in out of the air to make it 5-1 Trinity.
A pair of sophomores closed out the scoring with under three minutes left.
Luke Chandler (Glasgow, Scotland / Balfron) took the ball from near midfield and fed it forward to
Rylee Hawes (San Antonio, Texas / Marshall), who quickly turned towards the goal. Hawes had found a clear area free of defenders and pulled up from about 25 yards out for a shot that beat the keeper just inside the left post for his first career goal.
Up Next
Trinity will compete at the SCAC Tournament next weekend in Houston, Texas. The Tigers will take on No. 3 seed Southwestern University in the last Semifinal of the day on Friday, November 3, at 7:30 p.m.
