The men’s soccer team had its six-match undefeated streak snapped on Wednesday night, suffering a 2-1 defeat at Covenant College Scots in Lookout Mountain, Ga.
Covenant player Joel Friesen scored both goals for Covenant in the 21st minute and again in the 29th minute. Friesen’s first goal went just beyond the 18-yard box and into the upper half of the net after a pass from Matt Hudnut. For his second goal, Friesen took possession of the ball around the midfield, weaved through Emory defenders and shot the ball into the lower left corner of the net past Emory sophomore keeper Abe Hannigan. It was also the first time in his collegiate career that Friesen has scored twice in a match. The half ended with the Scots leading Emory 2-0.
In the second half Emory took control, outshooting the Scots by 15-4. The Eagles finally broke through in the 81st minute, with junior defender Jeffrey Cochran’s first goal of the 2013 season. Cochran sent a shot off a Covenant defender and into the net past Scot goalkeeper Shuler Polk for the goal.
Sophomore midfielder Sebastian Hardington had his third assist of the season from the goal. Less than a minute later, Emory had a chance to tie the game, with a shot from junior co-captain forward Dylan Price shot off the crossbar but it was deflected away from net.
Emory took five more shots before the end of the game but couldn’t come up with another goal to match Covenant. The Eagles ended the game with a 24-14 edge in total shots with a 9-6 advantage over the Scots. Price had the most shots out of all the players on both teams, including one on goal.
Emory now stands at 10-4-1 for the season coming off the loss. Covenant’s season now stands at 9-5-3, with the win raising them to this ranking.
The Eagles will play at the University of Rochester on Nov. 1 while enjoying a week of games in-between.
Despite the loss, the University Athletic Association (UAA) named Price the leading scorer in conference play last week with his combined three goals during wins against New York University (NYU) and Brandeis University.
Price scored the game-winning goal against NYU in a 2-0 win on Friday.
He led all players with five shots, three of which were on goal. On Sunday he led the team with a 3-1 upset over 12th ranked Brandeis when he scored a header in the 19th minute to extend the Eagles’ lead. Price is the top UAA scorer of 2013 with 10 goals and 24 points. He has the conference-best four goals and nine points in UAA matches. He is also tied for 14th in Emory school history with 29 career goals, 19th with 66 career points and third with 11 career-winning goals.
Hannigan also was featured again by the UAA as he leads all UAA goalkeepers in goals against average with a 0.47 average and save percentage (.895) in UAA games. Hannigan, who has played all but 14 minutes, continues to be a key player for the Eagles.
– By Liza Atillasoy
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