Central, SC - The Southern Wesleyan Warriors welcomed the Montreat Cavaliers into Childs Field on Saturday afternoon, honoring their Seniors with a non-conference victory.
Caden DeFronzo,
Angel Padilla,
Jon-Luke Rodriguez, and
Caleb Okes are the four members of the Class of 2023 on the Men's Soccer team.
The Warriors tallied 24 total shots with 11 being on goal in the victory.
Jon-Luke Rodriguez led the team with five shots, followed by
Feren Nunez and
Tipton Wright with four each. Goalkeeper
Marco Iniguez was very good in goal for SWU once again, recording four saves.
Game Vitals
Final: Southern Wesleyan 2, Montreat 1
Records: Southern Wesleyan (1-0-1), Montreat (0-1-1)
How It Happened
SWU had a slow start to the game, giving Montreat a chance to settle in and create some early chances, most of which resulted in off-target shots. Midway through the first period the Warriors really began to settle in as
Gabriel Melendez and
Feren Nunez began to control the pace of the game. Their best chance from open play came with 25:00 remaining on the clock, as a Melendez long ball sent
Tipton Wright into space, whose shot went wide left. Then, with three minutes remaining on the first half clock, a Nunez long ball found
Jon-Luke Rodriguez who drew a foul in the box on Montreat right back Ethan Kerns. It would be
Feren Nunez who stepped up and converted the penalty kick for the Warriors, opening his account for the 2023 Season. Southern Wesleyan came out with much better energy in the second half, and they would capitalize on it five minutes in.
Tipton Wright got in behind the Cavalier defense and pulled it back to
Caleb Okes who found the back of the net, scoring his first career goal on Senior Day. Montreat would pull a goal back two minutes later following a beautiful strike from winger Miodrag Bankovic.
Caleb Okes was named the Warrior's "Spark Plug of the Game", a team-selected award for the player who brought great energy and an impactful performance to the game. Apart from scoring the game-winning goal, Okes' had a strong work rate all game in the home opener of his final season as a Warrior.
What's Next
Southern Wesleyan will host Shaw University on Wednesday at 6:00 PM, followed by a trip to Emmanuel College (GA) on September 12th.
