SHREVEPORT, La. -- After a scoreless 110 minutes, the sixth-seeded Centenary College Gents advanced past the second-seeded Southwestern University Pirates, 3-1, in penalty kicks in Saturday afternoon’s second semifinal match of the 2020-21 SCAC Men’s Soccer Tournament. Official Championships Website | Interview w/ Head Coach Kyle Symczak | Interview w/ Junior Goalkeeper Sami Borchalli | Tournament Stats | Photos
In penalty kicks, the Gents converted on three of their four attempts and Sami Borchalli saved three of four Pirate efforts, including the deciding fourth shot, to vault Centenary into its first-ever SCAC Tournament final.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Despite the lack of goals, both teams had several chances and opportunity to score. The two combined for 38 total shots with 11 of those on goal.
- Centenary outshot Southwestern, 20-18, however the Pirates held an edge in shots on goal, 8-3.
- The Gents attempted five corner kicks on the afternoon, while Southwestern was held to just two corner kick opportunities.
- Jack Viles was credited with three saves in net for Southwestern and Borchalli racked up eight saves, including three in the overtime periods that included a critical save off a free kick from Skyler Frey that kept the Gents alive and sent the game to penalty kicks.
- In the penalty kick session, Centenary’s Rene Escobar, Greg Petreas and David Barbera all put away their shots. Mofe Ariyo was the lone Pirate to convert on an attempt as Borchalli came up large again with three stops between the pipes for the Gents.
CENTENARY COLLEGE STATISTICAL STANDOUTS
- Quentin Helm (D): 2 shots, 2 shots on goal
- Jaron Petreas (MF): 7 shots
- Matthew Hern (F): 1 shot, 1 shot on goal
- Sami Borchalli (GK): 8 saves
SOUTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY STATISTICAL STANDOUTS
- Skyler Frey (MF): 7 shots, 4 shots on goal
- Mofe Ariyo (F): 3 shots, 1 shot on goal
- Nathaniel Blake (F): 2 shots, 1 shot on goal
- Jack Viles (GK): 3 saves
NOTABLES
- Centenary advances to the SCAC Tournament final for the first time in program history.
- 2020-21 marks the first time in SCAC Tournament history that the No. 6 seed has advanced into the tournament final.
- Centenary advancing guarantees that for the first time in SCAC Tournament history a team advancing out of the quarterfinal round will be crowned champion as the Gents are just the fifth team to reach the final playing on the opening day of the tournament.
- The 2020-21 tournament is the first in league history to have multiple games decided by penalty kicks.
- There have now been seven fixtures in SCAC Tournament history that have decided by penalty kicks with today’s match being the first semifinal contest decided at the spot since 2012 when Southwestern advanced past Colorado College, 4-1.
- Today marked the first time in SCAC Tournament history that a program playing at home as advanced via penalty shootout. Southwestern fell in the 2018 Championship at home to Trinity, 4-2.
- Southwestern ends its season unbeaten with an overall mark of 4-0-4 and now sports a record of 7-8-3 all-time in SCAC Tournament history.
UP NEXT
By advancing past Southwestern, Centenary (4-5-2) will face fifth-seeded St. Thomas in tomorrow’s SCAC Championship at 1 p.m. CT. The meeting with be the first between the two programs in SCAC Tournament history. In the lone meeting between the two squads this year, St. Thomas earned a 1-0 victory back on March 20th in Houston. The winner of tomorrow’s matchup will be crowned SCAC Champion.
