The men's soccer team extended their unbeaten streak to nine games with a 6-2 win over Montreat College Saturday night. The Bruins finished the regular season 12-2-2 ahead of next week's NCCAA DII South Region tournament.
"In these tighter games, we've figured out how to win, and I think that's massive especially heading into next week." said Coach Greg Fulton. "It's been awhile since we've had a tougher competition, and it was a very important game for us as we look to the regional tournament."
Before the game started, the Bruins honored seniors Caleb Felber, Caleb Adams, Conley Burk, Jordan Crews, Rasheed Lareche, Bradley Tart, Peter Waddy, Victor Oladipo and team manager Jason Nunoo. When asked about the graduating class, Coach Fulton said that "they have grown into top quality players and they mean so much to our team. They will be leaving a massive hole. They're a special class, and they'll go down in history."
As the game kicked off, the Bruins quickly established possession and just three minutes into tonight's match a nifty kick from Victor Oladipo would set up Eli Solomon to open the scoring for the Bruins. The Bruins would earn a penalty kick 10 minutes later as Eli Solomon would get knocked down right inside the box. Mario Figueroa would take the PK and easily put it into the back of the net to double the lead.
Senior Peter Waddy would net the third goal off of an assist from Oladipo. The Bruins continued to pressure and had several good looks, but it was Victor Oladipo in the 28th minute who would be able to notch another one and bring the score to 4-0 at halftime.
With just under 20 minutes remaining in the second half, Victor Oladipo would get the ball around the Cavalier's keeper to extend the lead for the Bruins and bring his goal count to 16 on the season. As the game began to wind down, Jordan Crews would get taken down inside the box to earn another penalty kick. Crews would take the kick and made it count to give the Bruins 6 goals on the night.
The Cavaliers were able to capitalize and were able to score twice in the final five minutes bringing the final score to 6-2.
"You hate to give up late goals like that," said Fulton. "But it's a good warning for us not to switch off at the end of the game, and that's something we'll look into heading into our regional tournament."
The Bruins finished the season 12-2-2 and will play in the region tournament next week at Bob Jones University. Tournament times will be updated the first of next week and info will be available at
bjubruins.com.
