by Catherine Rogers
Multimedia Editor
Last Monday night, about 250 Bryan students traveled to Lookout Mountain (Chattanooga, Tenn.) to witness the long-awaited Bryan vs. Covenant soccer match. The Lions made the night one to remember, beating the Scots 2-0.
Despite the fact that the Scots were on the tail end of an 11-game winning streak and undefeated on their home field this season, the general feeling of the Lions on the drive to the game was confident.
“This is the game we play for really,” said junior defender Jonathan Houghton. “[We were] confident in the fact that we have a good team, however, aware of the fact that they had the same record as us.”
The game began in an unfortunate way for the Lions with a call for an inadvertent handball within the first 35 seconds of play. The Scots were given a penalty kick.
“Had they scored that, that might have changed the complexity of the game and the final result,” said Bryan head coach Sandy Zensen. “Very unfortunate call, but they took the shot and missed it, and we capitalized on it.”
The rest of the first half saw the Lions outshoot the Scots 7-3, but both teams missed all opportunities for scoring.
After a scoreless first half, the Lions made some halftime adjustments that seemed to unlock the game in their favor, according to Zensen.
“Andrew Knighten was a key factor,” he said. “We inserted him in the midfield and we moved Jorge Gonzalez from the outside to the inside and it gave us a little more offensive punch.”
Eight minutes into the second half, senior forward Bennie Bardales passed the ball to senior forward Ricky Angel who took a shot from 25 yards out and scored.
The reaction from the crowd was ecstatic as the team, led by Angel, ran to the sidelines to relish, with their classmates, the foreshadowing of victory.
The feeling in the stands and on the field was electric through 14 minutes of play. Then, the final goal of the night was scored by junior midfielder Tom Hemmings, who played the ball around a defender and into the net.
“This is much more than a soccer game,” said junior defender Harry Sherwood. “[This is] all about school pride, and the bragging rights are most definitely ours for the next year.”
Senior goalkeeper Rodrigo Pigatto was also a valuable player, tallying five saves throughout the game and keeping the Scots out of the net.
“Rod did what Rod does best,” said Zensen. “He covers that goal. He made a great save late in the game, and had they scored then, that would have given them an emotional lift and that would have been a problem for us.”
The Lions hosted Bluefield (Va.) College this past weekend in the AAC Quarterfinal game and defeated the Ramblin’ Rams 6-0. This weekend they will host the semifinal and final games beginning on Friday at 4:30 p.m. against Milligan College (Elizabethton, Tenn.).
“[We] expect to win the conference tournament and for now, get to the national tournament,” said Houghton. “From there, anything can happen.”
[Gallery photos by Lana Douglas]
