Covenant Men's Soccer has had a long month of being on the road as they have yet to play their first match at home. 
 
The team will open their first game on Scotland Yard for the season this Tuesday against Asbury. Luckily for the Scots, their next few competitions are set for home, as they will face Huntingdon for Homecoming this Saturday and Sewanee the following Tuesday.
 
After winning the USA South Championship last season, making it to the second round of the NCAA Tournament, and not facing a loss for the first four games in the 2022 season, Covenant Men's Soccer was ranked 23rd by the United Soccer Coaches' National Poll the week of September 13th. They were also ranked second regionally.
 
Being nationally-ranked comes with both excitement and pressure, as every team hopes to beat a ranked opponent. Unfortunately, since then, the Scots have not been able to come away with win. However, the men's soccer team has only allowed one loss on the season as a whole, when they were overtaken by the Christopher Newport Captains this past weekend in Virginia. 
 
The Scots' second game of the weekend ended in a 2-2 draw, similar to the match the Scots played earlier in the week against Berry, where both teams walked away with one goal each and tie on their record. This season is a bit different than seasons past, however, as there is no overtime in regular season play. 
 
In Case You Missed It
 
Against Berry-
 
Nathan Carlson from Berry put up the first goal of the game in the 63rd minute to give the Vikings a 1-0 lead on the Scots. Fifteen minutes later (77:36), Mercer Stout scored his third goal of the season to even out the score, making it one a-piece for each team. 
 
In this match, there were six yellow cards throughout the entirety of the competition. Berry outweighing Covenant in this category four to two. However, more fouls were given to the Scots. The play of the game was aggressive on both sides, both team playing to win. The Vikings and the Scots were evenly matched, 14 shots from Covenant and 13 from Berry. 
 
Will Hicks had four saves on six shots on goal, including one team save. Berry Goalkeeper Jose Palacios also notched four saves.
 
Away in Virginia-
 
This past Friday, Covenant traveled to Virginia to face Christopher Newport as well as Virginia Wesleyan.
 
Though Covenant took more shots than CNU, the Captains had just one more shot on goal than the Scots. This was key for Christopher Newport, as one of those shots on goal would slip past the Scots' goalkeeper, Will Hicks. Hicks had three saves on the match with one lethal goal allowed. Covenant could not come back from Brendan Todd's late first-half goal and came away with their first loss of the season.
 
Valent effort was shown by Knox Gibson, Griffin Felton, and Kade Theunissen, all three with shots on goal. However, goalkeeper for the Captains, Ethan Larson, was able to save all three. 
 
The next night in the match-up against Virginia Wesleyan, both Will Kenas and Jay Patterson each gave Covenant a goal, but it was not enough to overtake the Marlins. For Virginia Wesleyan, Alex Moody and Nate Mitchell were able to attack the Scots' defense and each came away with a goal.
 
Virginia Wesleyan could not hold on to their 2-1 lead over the Scots, even though they were well out-shooting Covenant (16-8). Jay Patterson answered late in the second half to save the Scots from another devastating loss as he was able to find the back of the net in the 87th minute. This left little time for the Marlins to respond, and the contest ended with a tie. 
 
Will Hicks had seven saves on the night, while Griffin Potter on Virginia Wesleyans' side snagged two saves. Each goalie allowed two goals to be scored for each team and the final score of the game came to a 2-2 draw.
 
Looking Ahead-
 
The Covenant Men's Soccer team is opening up at home on Tuesday, September 20th, hungry for a win. This game will be held at 6:00 PM on Scotland Yard.
 
Come out and see the Scots in action both on Tuesday and Saturday. The men's soccer team will be opening up conference play this weekend for their Homecoming game, September 24th at 7:00 PM.
 
CONNECT WITH THE SCOTS
Be sure to follow the Scots all season long on athletics.covenant.edu and on social media at Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for up-to-date scores, news and other information.