By PATRICK MEEHAN, Centenary Sports Information Director
Scoring sells tickets and grabs headlines, and for the Centenary men’s soccer and lacrosse teams, it provides the spotlight news around the Athletics program this week – along with the upcoming home football game Saturday evening at Atkins Field.
MEN’S SOCCER: The Gents made history on Sunday afternoon in a 7-0 victory over the University of Dallas Crusaders in a Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference contest at Atkins Field as the Gents scored their most goals in a conference match since they joined the SCAC prior to the 2013 season.
The Gents (4-5-2, 2-2-0 SCAC) took a 4-0 halftime lead over the Crusaders and added three goals in the second half to cruise to the win. The shutout was the Gents’ fourth of the season and was their second-highest scoring match of the season after a season-opening 9-0 win over Texas College.
Centenary’s seven goals are the second-most in a match in the NCAA Division III program era (2011-present). The five assists on Sunday are tied for the third-most in a match in the D3 era and the Gents tallied 19 points – third-most in D3 era for a single match.
The Gents will return to action Friday with a conference match at LeTourneau (2-3-5, 1-1-2 SCAC) set for 7:30 p.m. in Longview, Texas.
LACROSSE COACHING NEWS: Garrett Faktor has been promoted to offensive coordinator and a full-time assistant coach as he enters his third season with the Gents in 2026.
Faktor, a former Captain Shreve Gator, was part of the Gents’ 2024 season as a volunteer assistant coach. Faktor guided the Gents to their best offensive season in program history as the Maroon and White scored 161 goals, averaging 14.6 goals per game, and added 90 assists for 251 total points.
The Gents exploded for a program record number of goals against Northland on April 19 and scored 20+ goals three times during the season. Centenary finished ninth nationally in shooting percentage, 34th in scoring offense, 35th in Man Up Offense, 40th in points per game, and 57th in assists per game.
WOMEN’S SOCCER: The Ladies earned a hard-fought scoreless draw against the visiting University of Dallas Crusaders on Sunday afternoon in a conference contest at Atkins Field.
The Ladies (1-8-2, 0-2-1 SCAC) snapped their three-match losing streak and are now 1-5-2 at home this season. Freshman Morgan Stancliff notched her second shutout of the season and made a pair of saves in her 90 minutes on Sunday.
The Ladies will return to action on Friday with a conference match at LeTourneau (5-5-1, 0-4 SCAC) set for 5 o’clock in Longview.
VOLLEYBALL: The Ladies went winless in SCAC play this past weekend in Seguin, Texas, falling to host Texas Lutheran on Friday night and Schreiner and Concordia on Saturday.
Centenary (2-10, 1-5 SCAC) is now 0-6 on the road this season. The Ladies are traveling again this weekend for a pair of league matches against Austin College in Sherman, Texas on Friday and then versus the University of Dallas on Saturday in Irving.
MEN’S CROSS COUNTRY: The Gents return to action on Thursday as they will compete in the Grambling State XC Invite held at Lincoln Parish Park in Ruston.
Centenary finished sixth in the ULM Cross Country Invitational against a competitive field held at the Sterlington Sports Complex in its most recent action on Sept. 12.
FOOTBALL: Conference play begins on Saturday at home when Texas Lutheran visits Atkins Field with kickoff set for 6.
The Gents (0-3) fell 41-15 at Austin College last weekend.
Contact Patrick at pmeehan@centenary.edu