MEMPHIS, TENN. – The Millsaps College men's soccer team fell short in a hard-fought rivalry matchup against Rhodes College, falling 1-0 on Wednesday at the Rhodes Soccer Field.
Rhodes held a narrow 12-10 shot attempt advantage, while Millsaps grabbed a slim 9-8 corner kick positive margin.
Leading the Major attack with shots on goal were junior
Alden Romano, sophomore
Myles Walden, and freshman
Valentin Avila. Romano and sophomore
Raul Blandon both posted two shot attempts each.
Defensively sophomore goalkeeper
Edward Steinwand finished with five saves on the afternoon.
At the start of the first half, Rhodes looked for an early goal, but Steinwand kept the Lynx off the score clock with a crucial save.
Rhodes resurfaced at the bottom of the soccer goalpost with a kick to the lower center of the net to take a 1-0 lead.
The Majors' first offensive chances resulted off back-to-back corner kick attempts 16 minutes into the match. The Lynx' defense held, but juniors
Ellis Dykes and
Drew Mckeithen provided the first shot attempts in the 18th and 21st minutes moments later.
Romano challenged the Lynx striking the ball in the 24th minute to lower the center of the soccer goal mouth; however, the host goalkeeper would come down with the save.
The Lynx looked to extend their lead off a quick counter with just under seven minutes remaining in the opening half. Steinwand made a marvelous diving save to his left, protecting the low portion of frame to push a dangerous shot aside.
In a back-and-forth downfield battle between both teams, Walden created an opportunity to tally the Majors' second shot on goal in the 40th minute, but the Lynx would collect his attempt on a save.
The Majors ended the first half with a goal kick, heading into halftime trailing 1-0 in a hard-fought contest.
In the second half Steinwand accumulated his fourth save against Rhodes in the 50th minute. The Lynx almost scored soon after when another shot was sent off the crossbar and stayed out.
However, six minutes later, Millsaps responded with a shot by Romano that hit the right post, followed by another shot from Long that narrowly missed to the right.
The Majors encountered a save after the Lynx ran down the field on a wide-open cross pass, looking to attack and extend the deficit in the 67th minute.
Millsaps had a great chance to tie up the match in the 76th minute off a corner kick. The ball was sent into the box where Avila made contact with the side of his leg, but the Rhodes keeper pounced and made a save toward the lower-right corner of the goal.
Another corner kick gave the Majors another chance with five minutes remaining, but the Lynx keeper grabbed the ball above would-be attackers.
A final attempt would be headed wide to the left in the final 20 seconds, but Rhodes held on for the 1-0 decision.
The Majors will be back in action on Sunday, Oct. 25 to face Centre College in a home matchup at Harper Davis Field, beginning at 1:30 p.m. Live video will be provided at FloCollege.com, while live stats will be provided on gomajors.com.
To keep up to date with everything surrounding the Millsaps College men's soccer program follow the Majors on X and Instagram, like Millsaps Majors Athletics on Facebook and visit gomajors.com.
Founded in Jackson, Mississippi in 1890, Millsaps College is a national liberal arts college dedicated to academic excellence, open inquiry and free expression, the exploration of faith to inform vocation and the innovative shaping of the social, economic and cultural progress of our region. Consistently ranked as one of the best values in higher education, Millsaps has been praised by Colleges That Change Lives, The Princeton Review, Forbes Magazine, U.S. News & World Report, The John Templeton Foundation, and The Fiske Guide to Colleges.
