By: Luisa Zahn
Staff Writer
On Saturday, Sept. 13, the Piedmont College men’s soccer team played their first home game of the season. Although the rainy Georgia weather presented a difficult start for both teams from the beginning, the Piedmont Lions won the game with a score of 2-1 in overtime.
First-year striker Chase Kane said, “It was really great to be at home after playing three away games.” The weather conditions made the initiation of the game difficult, but in the first half the Lions dominated the game. The offense was consistently engaged by building up pressure in front of the opponents’ goal.
Some situations did demonstrate concentration difficulties. Spending most of the time in front of the opponent’s goal and making many attempts to score a goal didn’t prove to be enough. They ultimately missed the last crucial pass to score repeatedly. After many missed opportunities, the Piedmont Lions were able to build-up enough pressure against the Trinity Baptist Eagles, and about 14 minutes before halftime, scored an outstanding goal prepared by first-year defender Matthew Metzger and executed by Kane.
After a roar of excitement and applause, the game moved into the second half. Still filled with the exhilaration of leading the game, most of the second-half took place in front of the Eagle’s goal. During the second-half, a red card was given against the Eagles.
In spite of the impressively strong start of the game and the advantage of playing with a player more in the course of the second half, the Lions demonstrated moments where they lacked concentration. The Eagle’s however, strategically used these short moments to pressure the Lions by scoring a goal- tying the game 1-1.
The game went into a ten-minute overtime. After only a short amount of time into overtime, Kane secured the Lion’s victory and scored the winning goal. Kane was the only player to score for the Lions during this game.
“I felt pure adrenaline, honestly, and was so happy I was able to clinch the win for my team,” said Kane.
In the end, Piedmont had 12 fouls, 21 shots, and seven shots on goal. This is comparable to Trinity Baptist’s 18 fouls, nine shots, and four shots on goal. Piedmont’s third-year goalie Kenneth Hearn had three saves.
The men’s soccer team went on to face Ferrum College at home on Friday, Sept. 19- winning 3-2 and William Peace University on Saturday, Sept. 20- winning 5-1. Their next game will be against Oglethorpe University in Atlanta on Sept. 23 at 4 p.m.
