This past weekend, the Emory Men’s Soccer Team hosted the 2014 Sonny Carter Invitational, which featured squads from Emory, Rutgers University-Newark (N.J.), Centre College (Ken.) and Covenant College (Ga.).
After a draw in its first match against Centre and a close victory over Rutgers-Newark, the Eagles won the invitational for the second consecutive time.
In its first game of the season, Emory matched up with the Centre Colonels on Friday, Aug. 29. After a scoreless first half in which there were few shots on goal by either squad, Emory came out in the second half firing, scoring a goal in the 51st minute.
Junior defender Derek Chan assisted on the goal, crossing a poor clearance by the Colonels into the box where senior forward Dylan Price headed the ball in. The goal was a historic moment, as it was Price’s 30th career goal, putting him in 14th place overall in the program’s history.
The Eagles held onto the lead until the Colonels took advantage of a corner kick, as junior forward Connor Reed headed the ball in past junior goalkeeper Abe Hannigan.
With the game tied 1-1, the match headed into overtime, which presented a challenge for the Eagles when senior defender Noah Rosen was red-carded for a tackle on a Colonel breakaway. Playing one man down for the remainder of both the first and second overtimes, Emory dug in and earned a draw. Hannigan saved a potential game-winning shot by Centre to secure the draw.
On Saturday, Aug. 30, the Eagles hosted the Rutgers-Newark Scarlet Raiders, playing without captains and starting center backs Rosen and junior Matt Sherr, each serving a suspension for their red cards.
Despite the suspensions, the Eagles limited the Scarlet Raiders to only eight shots on goal. The first half featured a scoring frenzy from the 23rd through the 26th minute.
In the 21st minute, Rutgers-Newark broke the 0-0 tie with clean passing and a goal from senior midfielder Patryk Dawidczyk.
One minute later, the Eagles tied the game with a goal from sophomore midfielder Max Gomas putting a cross from sophomore forward Jason Andrejchak in the back of the net.
The Scarlet Raiders responded quickly, scoring a goal that would give them a 2-1 lead going into halftime.
After halftime, the Eagles scored again, using another cross from Andrejchak that was redirected by Price and finished by junior forward Connor Curtin.
With the score knotted at two, the squads battled back and forth until the last minutes.
When the Rutgers-Newark goalie lost control of an Emory cross, Price was waiting, and shot the ball into the back of the net for his second goal in two games. It was Price’s 12th career game-winning goal, putting him one away from second on Emory’s all-time leaders.
With the win, Emory improved to 1-0-1 on the year, and won its ninth Sonny Carter Invitational in the past 12 years.
Price was awarded MVP of the invitational, his second-straight in the tournament. Four other Eagles made the all-tournament squad: Andrejchak, sophomore defender Scott Haley, Gomas and junior midfielder Nick Schook.
The Men’s Soccer team’s next games are Saturday, Sept. 6 and Sunday, Sept. 7, when they will participate in the Berry Invitational, facing off with 23rd-ranked Ohio Northern University and then Ramapo College (N.J.).
–By Ethan Morris
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