JACKSON – Millsaps and Sewanee battled it out on Harper Davis Field in one of the most intense men's soccer matches of the year on Sunday afternoon, with Colin Thompson netting the game-winner in double overtime to send the Majors to a thrilling, 4-3 victory.
With an extra hour of sleep due to daylight savings time, the teams showed extra intensity, laying it all out on the turf with a combined 31 fouls, nine yellow cards and an ejection.
Sewanee (4-11-1, 1-6-1 SCAC) used an unassisted goal from Kai Sanders in the 10th minute for an early 1-0 lead before Jackson Gannaway netted his fifth goal of the year for a 2-0 Tigers lead. Gannaway knocked in a saved penalty kick opportunity from Matt Lightfoot.
The Majors climbed back in it just before the half, using Aaron Hyatt's long throw-in that found the head of teammate Brandon Mong in the 41st minute and made it 2-1 Sewanee.
The Tigers' Ben Swann picked up a yellow in the 50th minute and later followed with another yellow in the 68th that resulted in an immediate red, causing Sewanee to play with 10-men the final 48 minutes of the game.
Millsaps found the equalizer in the 58th minute off a perfectly placed ball from Thompson, as junior Corey Beaumont beat his defender and then keeper Johnny Nalley to the right corner of the net for the score.
The excitement didn't last long, as Bryce Sealander delivered the go-ahead goal in the 80th minute for Sewanee off a Matt O'Brien assist, heading it in the upper left corner past Major keeper Domenick DiPaolo.
Millsaps would once again find the tying goal just minutes later, using Thompson's fifth goal of the year to make it 3-3 with under eight minutes left in regulation. After a scoreless first overtime period and five minutes of scoreless soccer in the second OT, Thompson found a breach in the defense and sent a shot past Nalley in the 106th minute for the golden goal.
The win for the Majors pushed their record out to 8-10 overall and 4-4 in SCAC play, the most overall and league wins since the 1998 season under then head coach Bill Lytton. They conclude the 2008 season next weekend, Nov. 7-9, at Hendrix and Rhodes College.
