Box Score
Box Score:
ATLANTA (Oct. 30, 2011) – Playing in its final match of the season the Sewanee men's soccer team shocked No. 25 Oglethorpe 2-1 Sunday afternoon in Atlanta.
With their victory the Tigers finished their 2011 campaign with an 8-7-2 record, their best winning percentage since 2004. At the same time with the win Sewanee snapped Oglethorpe's 12-match winning streak and its SCAC unbeaten record.
"I am very proud of the guys," said head coach
David Poggi. "We were in a lot of close matches and all season long we played hard up to the final whistle. Our players deserved today's result."
In total, Sewanee played in four overtime games, with seven of its loses coming by only one goal. At the same time Sewanee ended the year with 31-20 advantage in goals.
As play started Sewanee made the first strike after
Alec Peter fired a long shot down the right side of the pitch in the eighth minute.
The Stormy Petrel's then evened the score 30 minutes later when Mark Lavery converted a penalty kick just before the half.
In the second half, both teams continued to battle at each end with chances coming for both sides. After having a
Samuel Edoung-Biyo goal disallowed for offside, Sewanee broke through for the game-winner. Freshmen defender
Ford Emerson found
Matt Lightfoot as the Tigers countered, who out ran the Oglethorpe defender and slotted his shot into the far corner of the goal.
Despite being down 2-1, Oglethorpe continued to put the pressure on Sewanee the remainder of the match, however Tiger keeper
Derek Williams and the backline defense turned away every Stormy Petrel opportunity.
Oglethorpe outshot Sewanee 18-12 on the afternoon and earned a 6-4 advantage in corner kicks.
"After not making the conference tournament I know everyone on our team is disappointed," said Poggi. "That being said, I couldn't be more gratified of how each member of our squad put it all on-the-line every match. At times when you don't reach certain goals, you sometimes forget about all the accomplishments a team has achieved throughout a season. When we look back on this year, I know I can say that we left everything on the field all the way until the end."
Individually, Lightfoot finished the season with a team-high 10 goals and 25 points.
"Matt did a great job as our captain and leader this season," said Poggi. "Everyday he led by example. Matt showed up ready to go each time we played an trained. It is only fitting that he closed out his career with the game winner today."
With the season over, the careers of
Matt Lightfoot,
Alec Peter,
Stuart Maxey,
Jeremy Abney,
Will Morgan and
Mark Meyer came to a close Sunday.
"This year's senior class has been instrumental in bringing our program to a new level," Poggi said. "We owe them a debt of gratitude. It was our first recruiting class to the Mountain and I could not be more pleased with the integrity and character these players gave our program the last four seasons."
For more information on Sewanee athletics please visit www.SewaneeTigers.com.
