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SAN ANTONIO, Texas - In
a matchup that featured the nation’s best men’s soccer
team and a winless Millsaps squad, the Majors hung with the No.
1 team in the land, battling the Trinity Tigers to the wire Sunday
afternoon in front of an announced crowd of 350 at Trinity University.
The first half provided a lot of exciting action and scoring, as
the two teams combined for five goals, three assists, 23 shots,
14 fouls and two yellow cards.
Trinity (7-0, 2-0 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference) looked
to put the game out of reach early, finding the back of the net
for a 1-0 lead just 4:07 into the first half of play when Kyle
Altman found Patrick Floeck off a corner kick.
“I thought for a minute that Trinity was going to take
over like the powerhouse they are,” head coach Lee Johnson said. “But
I’m proud of the way the guys brushed it off and returned
one back several minutes later.”
Millsaps (0-7, 0-2 SCAC), however wouldn’t lay down as Anthony
Amaya netted his and the Majors second goal of the season just
two minutes later off an Aaron Hyatt assist to knot the game at
1-1.
The Tigers responded at the 11:49 mark, when Josh Peterson beat
Majors goalkeeper Domenick DiPaolo to take a brief 2-1 lead.
Once again, Millsaps would find the equalizer at the 19:16 mark
when Drew Wooton scored his first goal of the season off a free
kick just outside the Tigers box. The free kick was set up after
Wooton drew a yellow card on Trinity’s Michael Robertson.
Just when it looked as if the game would remain tied at 2-2 heading
into halftime, the Tigers delivered a crushing blow to the Majors
hopes by netting a goal with only 0:29 left before the first half
buzzer.
After drawing a yellow card to set up the Majors second goal, Robertson
used a Noe Casanova corner kick to head in the eventual game-winning
goal right before the break, thus earning the Trinity midfielder
a bit of redemption.
The second half was a back-and-forth battle, with both teams struggling
to find the back of the net due to great defensive play.
DiPaolo had a solid second half in the net for the Majors, redirecting
seven Trinity shots while only allowing one – a late goal
to Mike Marino with 10:25 left in the game off a Ralph Petang assist.
That would be enough for the Tigers to hold on, as they escaped
with a 4-2 victory over a hungry Millsaps team.
“I’m very proud of the way the team played and our overall
performance,” Johnson said. “By far, it’s the
best game we’ve played to date and it should provide us with
some positive momentum heading into this weekend’s home matches.”
The Majors will play host to DePauw on Friday, Sept. 29 at 6 p.m.
and Centre College at 12 p.m. on Sunday. Both matches will be played
at Harper Davis Field.
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