JACKSON, Miss. – It was a Friday night conference battle in the rematch of last year's SAA championship match between Millsaps and Centre. Both teams came into the game with even records and it stayed that way after the squads finished in a 2-2 draw.
After both teams traded shots in the first half,
Alex Bourland (Charleston, S.C.) came through first for the Majors in the 37th minute.
Luca Kistner (Munich, Germany) got his foot on the ball after it was batted around in front of the Centre net. Kistner then found Bourland who took a shot from straight on to break the scoreless tie and send the Majors into halftime with a 1-0 lead.
Centre came out of the locker rooms ready to get back into the match. In the 46th minute, Noah Wesley-Chevalier put the ball in the back of the net to tie things up.
Millsaps had an answer just seven minutes later. Bourland brought the ball up and touched it off to Kistner who then dished it off to
Tore Schütt who had space around him. Schütt then squared one up from 20 yards out and bended it past the diving hand of the keeper to give the Majors the lead.
Just seven minutes later Chevalier scored his second goal of the game on a free kick to tie the match back up and send it to overtime.
Both sides had opportunities to win in overtime, each team had one shot in the first OT and two in the second. With neither able to score, the match ended in a draw.
"It was a good battle". Said head coach
Steve Voltz, "I thought the guys came out strong and did a good job competing against a very good Centre team. We went up 1-0 and I thought we had momentum, but you have to give Centre credit, they came back every time. Both teams had opportunities, but at the end of the day it was a typical conference battle on a Friday night. I'm proud of our guys for the way they hung in there. Now it's on to Sunday against Sewanee".
Bourland is currently tied for the SAA lead with 17 points on the season. He is also tied with teammate Tore Schütt for the most assists in the conference with five.
Millsaps record is now 5-4-2 on the season and 1-1-1 in SAA play. The Majors will now prepare for Sunday as they take on Sewanee at Harper Davis Field at 2:30 p.m.
