SEWANEE, Tenn. – Sewanee scored three times in the second half – one apiece from
Brady Lloyd,
Isaac Rasheed and
Stokes McConnell – erasing an early deficit en route to a 3-1 victory over Berry College in men's soccer action here Sunday at Puett Field.
With the win the Tigers (12-3-3, 3-2-1 SAA) moved into third place in the conference, pulling ahead of Berry with one match remaining in the regular season. Sewanee hosts Centre College next Saturday at 5:30 p.m.
The Tigers trailed 1-0 at the half after a 15
th minute goal from Berry's Addofo El Bay, but the deficit was short-lived once the second period started. Lloyd curled in a shot from the top of the left corner of the box, far post, just 2:02 into the half for his first goal of the season.
Sewanee scored again in the 55
th minute when
Sam McMurry played a ball across from the left. Berry's clearance found Rasheed in the box and his shot bounced off the hands of Berry goalkeeper Cooper Cherry and barely rolled across the goal line for a 2-1 edge. It was Rasheed's fifth goal of the year.
The Tigers kept looking for the third goal, with Lörinc Loboda's blast from inside the box saved in the 65
th minute and two chances by
Noah Bjorkman were either saved or blocked by the Vikings.
Sewanee finally broke through in the 81
st minute, with McConnell's score looking eerily similar to Lloyd's, but from the opposite side. His left-footed shot from the right corner of the box curled into the net, far post, for his ninth goal of the season.
Sewanee outshot the Vikings, 21-9, overall, including 14-6 in the second half, dominating play almost from start-to-finish in the final 45 minutes. Cherry finished with seven saves for Berry while Sewanee's
Nathan Vanhoeve made two saves.
Bjorkman nearly put the Tigers in front in the 13
th minute, beating a defender to a ball in the box and shooting into an almost empty net, but a Berry defender cleared the shot away. McConnell picked up the loose ball seconds later and blasted a shot from the right, but Cherry made the save.
The Vikings (9-5-3, 3-3-0) took advantage in the midfield after the punt from Cherry, with Max Albertson playing the ball wide right and crossing into the box. The ball ricocheted off a Sewanee defender and El Bey back-heeled a shot that hit the left post and rolled into the net at 14:01 of the first half.
The Tigers continued to be the aggressor, with a half-volley from Rasheed just missing in the 19
th minute and
Grayson White's cross to McConnell hammering the crossbar in the 22
nd minute.
Lloyd got a chance from just outside the box in the 24
th minute that was saved and White's header in the 26
th minute sailed wide. Rasheed had another chance in the 33
rd minute, but the shot sailed left, and
Thomas McGowan missed a 1-v-1 opportunity in the 35
th minute from near the top of the box, rolling his shot left against a hard-charging Cherry.
