Central, SC – Southern Wesleyan opened up Conference Carolinas action on Wednesday evening against the King Tornado. The game ended in a 3-3 draw as both teams battled to the final seconds.
The Warriors recorded 22 shots compared to the 14 shots posted by the Tornado on Wednesday evening. Southern Wesleyan had nine shots on goal.
Hykeem Martin led the team with nine shots and four shots on goal. He was followed by
Feren Nunez with four shots and
Pedro Fonseca with two shots. Martin recorded a hat trick as he scored all three goals for the Warriors.
Wesley Bigbee played all ninety minutes in goal for Southern Wesleyan.
Game Vitals
Final: Southern Wesleyan 3, King 3
Records: Southern Wesleyan (1-2-1 / CC 0-0-1) King (1-1-2 / CC 0-0-1)
Team Captain Tipton Wright says…
"All of the boys worked hard. I'm proud of how we fought back after each goal to stay in the game. Not the result we hoped for, but we will move forward to Chowan on Saturday."
How It Happened
The Tornado attacked quickly as Weston Joyner scored the first goal of the game just five minutes in to give King the early lead. The lead was short lived as
Hykeem Martin sent the ball to the net for his first goal of the season to tie it up 1-1. Martin continued to attack the net for the Warriors, but Jack Hyatt saved the ball to keep the Warriors from taking lead. Southern Wesleyan would not relent as
Trey Greenwood and
Gabriel Melendez took more shots on the goal as they attempted to give the Warriors the lead. However, the Tornado stayed strong on the back line to prevent the Warriors from taking the lead. King countered as Weston Joyner took a pass from Erick Manirakiza and scored his second goal of the half to allow the Tornado to take a 2-1 goal lead at the half.
Southern Wesleyan came out strong in the second half as
Hykeem Martin scored just forty seconds into the half to tie the game up 2-2. King quickly countered as Kenneth Walton scored the third goal of the game for the Tornado to give them back the advantage. The Warriors continued to fight as Martin recorded his hat trick goal to tie the game back up 3-3. Southern Wesleyan attacked again as
Feren Nunez and
Pedro Fonseca took shots on the goal, but Jack Hyatt and the Tornado defense kept the Warriors from taking the lead. The Warriors increased their attacks with shots by
Ryan Rodriguez and
Tipton Wright, but their attacks were foiled by the Tornado defense. The game concluded in a 3-3 tie.
What's Next
The Warriors will travel to Murfreesboro, NC on September 10 to take on the Chowan Hawks at 3:30 p.m. They will then return to Childs Field on September 13 to host the North Greenville Crusaders at 7:30 p.m. Southern Wesleyan will then travel to Wilson, NC on September 17 to take on the Barton Bulldogs and then to Spartanburg, SC on September 21 to take on the Converse Valkyries.
