by Billy Findley
Online Editor
The Bryan men’s soccer team wheeled out a hard-fought victory against the Cavaliers of Montreat College (N.C.) last Saturday night, winning 1 – 0. This was the Lion’s first conference game and fifth win of the season.
The last time these two teams met was at the conference tournament championship last season, another close game that ended in a 2 – 1 overtime victory for the Lions.
This time, both teams remained scoreless for the majority of Saturday’s game. However, a few changeups in offensive strategies by both teams contributed to the Lions securing a goal with just minutes left on the clock, according to Head Coach Sandy Zensen.
Zensen said that during the entire first half Montreat was “packing it in,” grouping their offense in a way that prevented Bryan defenders from getting the ball down to the offensive end of the field. Bryan came away from the first half with only one clean shot at the goal. Montreat came away with five.
“We didn’t play with too much passion in the first half,” Zensen said.
However, Montreat veered away from their “packing” strategy in the second half making the ball more accessible to Bryan defenders.
Zensen said he’s not sure why Montreat made the changeup but that he’s “sure glad they did.” The Lions had a total of nine shots in the second half.
With just over six minutes left in the game, the Lions engaged Montreat with one of their “special” offensive formations. Sophomore mid-fielder Johannes Muller whipped the ball past the far post to senior forward Curt Hays who passed the ball back inside to junior defender Daniel O’Kane who scored the winning goal.
“Every team in this conference, if you underestimate them, is going to be hard to beat,” Muller said. “[The game] gives us confidence for Wednesday.”
The Lions are currently ranked first in the AAC and will face Tennessee Wesleyan College, ranked fifth, (Athens, Tenn.) this Wednesday.
Zensen’s plan is to take every game one at a time.
“All we’ve done is won a battle. We haven’t won the war yet,” he said.