SHREVEPORT, La. -- St. Thomas knocked off top-seeded Trinity University, 2-1, in Saturday afternoon’s opening semifinal fixture of the 2020-21 SCAC Men’s Soccer Tournament at Centenary’s Mayo Field. Official Championships Website | Interview w/ Head Coach Ian Clerihew | Interview w/ Freshman Forward Jair Perez | Tournament Stats | Photos
Freshman Jair Perez struck for a pair of remarkable finishes to give St. Thomas a 2-0 lead and the Celts held on despite a late surge from Trinity to reach the program’s first-ever SCAC Tournament Championship.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Perez opened the scoring in the 33rd minute on a masterful strike from beyond the 18-yard box to give the Celts a 1-0 lead heading into half. Oscar Aragon sent forward a spectacular diagonal ball to spring open Perez and was credited with the assist.
- Perez’s second marker of the afternoon came in the first 10 minutes of the second half as Dany Ramirez slipped in a pass to free the freshman who buried the insurance goal in the 55th minute.
- Trinity, who controlled most of the possession throughout the match, continued to press and pulled to within one when Jack Downes scored in the 80th minute.
- Pressing late Trinity was able to fire off three more shots and attempt one more corner but could not find the equalizer in the final 10 minutes as St. Thomas held on for the 2-1 victory.
- Trinity outshot St. Thomas, 34-8, on the afternoon, including a 12-6 edge in shots on goal. The Tigers also attempted four corner kicks to zero for the Celts.
- It was a physical match that saw a combined 36 fouls and eight yellow cards.
UNIVERSITY OF ST. THOMAS STATISTICAL STANDOUTS
- Jair Perez (F): 2 goals, 2 shots, 2 shots on goal
- Oscar Aragon (D): 1 assist
- Dany Ramirez (F): 1 assist, 3 shots, 2 shots on goal
- Felipe Marques (F): 1 shot, 1 shot on goal
- Rodrigo Lazo (GK): 11 saves
TRINITY UNIVERSITY STATISTICAL STANDOUTS
- Jack Downes (MF): 1 goal, 9 shots, 3 shots on goal
- Wesley Mitchell (F): 6 shots, 2 shots on goal
- Ethan Moore (MF): 2 shots, 2 shots on goal
- Neil Verwillow (MF): 2 shots, 2 shots on goal
NOTABLES
- The victory sends St. Thomas to the SCAC Tournament Final for the first time in program history.
- The Celts run out of the quarterfinals to the SCAC Championship marks just the fourth time in conference history a team has accomplished that feat. Southwestern was the last team to make such a run back in 2018.
- The 2020-21 Tournament has already provided three fixtures in which a lower-seeded team has defeated a higher-seeded squad. The three upsets are tied for the most in SCAC Tournament history, tying the 2011 tournament when Oglethorpe University was crown SCAC Champions.
- St. Thomas is just the second No. 5 seed to advance to the SCAC Tournament final, Centre reached the championship as the five seed back in the 2011 tournament.
- After falling to TLU in the 2019 semifinals, Trinity has now lost back-to-back matches for the first time in SCAC Tournament history.
- Trinity ends its season with a 6-1-1 overall mark and falls to 16-4-2 in SCAC Tournament history.
UP NEXT
By defeating Trinity, St. Thomas (5-2-4) will face the winner of No. 2 Southwestern and host Centenary in tomorrow’s championship match at 1:00 p.m. CT.
