By PATRICK MEEHAN, Centenary Sports Information Director
There’s no shortage of fall sports action involving Centenary student-athletes who aren’t pulling on helmets and shoulder pads, and there has been lots to cheer about lately.
WOMEN’S SOCCER: A Centenary comeback led by locals earned a 2-2 draw with the Texas College Steers on Tuesday evening in a non-conference contest at Atkins Field.
The Ladies (0-4-1) fell behind 2-0 at halftime but rallied with a pair of second-half goals to earn the tie against the Steers (0-2-1).
Senior midfielder/forward Lowrey Lain of Haughton scored her first goal of the season in the 58th minute to get the Ladies on the board and then senior midfielder Aubrey Burkhardt, a Parkway High and Bossier Parish Community College product, tied the match on a free kick in the 75th minute as she found the net for the second time this season.
Freshman Gracie Rellin, also from Haughton, went the distance in goal for the Ladies and made four saves.
The Ladies continue their season-long homestand, consisting of seven matches, on Sunday with a non-conference contest against LaGrange College at noon.
MEN’S SOCCER: Sophomore defender Dylan Clark buried a late penalty kick on Sunday afternoon to send the Gents to a gritty 1-0 victory over the Lyon College Scots in a non-conference contest at Atkins Field.
The Gents (2-1-1) and Scots (2-1-1) battled to a scoreless draw until Clark was fouled inside the box and rifled his PK attempt past Lyon goalkeeper Gabriel Rangel and into the back of the net in the 85th minute. Centenary rebounded from a 4-1 road loss to the Huntingdon College Hawks in a non-conference contest on Friday afternoon and handed the Scots their first loss of the young season.
Senior Sam Brocato went the distance in goal for the Gents and made a season-high seven saves while recording his third shutout of the season.
The Gents, now 2-0-1 at home, will head back out on the road for a pair of matches. The Maroon and White will face Hardin-Simmons on Thursday in Abilene, Texas and Howard Payne University on Saturday in Brownwood, Texas.
VOLLEYBALL: The Ladies, who opened the season with a 3-1 home win over Wiley on Aug. 30, return to action on Friday as they face the host Millsaps College Majors at 2 p.m. in the Millsaps Invitational in Jackson, Miss.
Centenary will also play Lyon College on Friday (4 p.m.) and have two matches on Saturday – versus Huntingdon College at noon and Belhaven at 2 p.m. Saturday’s matches will be played at Belhaven.
CHEER TEAM COMMUNITY SERVICE: The Centenary Cheer team performed for the residents at The Glen Retirement Community in a pep rally style performance last Thursday.
“We love being invited to visit the residents of The Glen and get a chance to show them some of our game day material,” said Centenary head coach Kaylee King. “Our student-athletes loved getting to meet and talk with the residents as well and share many fond memories, some including their time at Centenary.”
While the team performed, the residents put to good use their own sets of pom poms and megaphones.
“It was such a fun and heartwarming experience getting to perform at The Glen,” said junior Leah Dawson. “Seeing the residents smile and clap along made it so special. I was so excited to showcase our talents with the residents.”
MEN’S CROSS COUNTRY: Freshman Zach Wroten again set the pace for the Gents as they returned to action on Saturday in the UT Tyler Cross Country Opener at Texas Rose Horse Park.
Wroten (19:27.00) had the Gents’ top time for the second meet in a row as he finished the men’s 8K in a time of 33:07.25. Freshman Ian Hunter ran a 34:16.23, junior Herman Pride finished in 36:59.70, and sophomore Evan Halbert came across in 43:09.42.
Saturday’s meet included 12 teams representing programs from the NJCAA, Division III, Division II, and Division I levels. The Gents are back in action on Friday as they will run in the ULM Cross Country Invitational in Monroe.
Contact Patrick at pmeehan@centenary.edu