JACKSON, Miss. – The Millsaps men's soccer team put up a valiant fight, but fell 1-0 in a tightly contested Riverside Rumble at Belhaven Bowl Stadium on Tuesday.
Belhaven (6-4-1) was outshot by Millaps (5-2-2) by a 12-11 margin, with the Majors holding a 5-2 shots-on-target advantage. Millsaps also tallied a 10-4 corner kick differential.
Freshman
Zachary Diamond posted two shots on goal, while juniors
Alden Romano and
Ellis Dykes as well as freshman
Reid Brenner all netted a shot on target.
Belhaven opened the contest with more of the attack. However, the Majors soon applied their own pressure forcing corner kicks in the ninth and 11th minutes.
The second corner resulted in a sophomore
Raul Blandon kick that went over the net. Diamond found the match's first shot in the 14th minute that was saved by Justin Ramirez of Belhaven.
Teams traded shots a pair of shots each over the ensuing 13 minutes of the first half.
A corner then led to the Blazers' first goal in the 36th minute. The ball rolled to the top of the box and was bicycled off just underneath the center crossbar by Diego Sarzalejo.
The goal ended a program-record shutout streak by
Edward Steinwand. Steinwand, who entered the match with five consecutive shutouts, amounted an incredible 485 minutes, and seven seconds of scoreless soccer to open the season. He stopped the other shot he faced on frame on Tuesday.
Justin Long of the Majors attempted the final shot of the first half, but it was blocked seconds before the horn.
Only a minute into the second half, Diamond looked to strike early, but his attempt went off target to the left.
An attempt by
Drew Mckeithen was blocked nearly five minutes later as the Majors attacked early in the half.
The Blazers had a close free kick just outside the box in the 66th minute after a goal kick was taken beyond the legal zone. Belhaven's shot went high, however.
A nifty cross across the pitch from the rightside of the field found Mckeithen once more, who sliced at the airborne pass, but it was sailed just high and right of goal.
The Majors continued to press forward late and Dykes fired a shot across that was blocked and resulted in a corner.
Moments later,
Alden Romano took a shot from the rightside of goal that was stopped off another corner in the 81st minute.
Millsaps had its best and final chance with 8:16 remaining. Dykes lined up for a penalty kick, but was stopped aiming for the lower-right corner.
The Blazers ended the final minutes of the game with little attacking either way and held on to claim the Riverside Rumble, 1-0.
Up next for the Majors is conference play, beginning at Maryville College on Friday. Opening kickoff is slated for 6:30 p.m. CT, with live video available at FloCollege.com, and live stats at 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.
