The Covenant Scots varsity men’s soccer team is heading to the inaugural Collegiate Conference of the South (CCS) Men’s Soccer Conference Finals. The boys are playing their best soccer of the year, rolling through opponents leading up to the conference tournament, and continuing their dominance into the tournament.
The boys led off conference play in a brisk, Wednesday evening matchup against the Huntingdon Hawks. Covenant dominated the entire game. The boys finished with a total of 36 shots, 11 of which were on goal, against only 8 total shots, 4 of which being on frame for the opposing Hawks. The Scots led off with a strong start, going into halftime maintaining a 1-0 lead over Huntingdon thanks to a goal in the thirty-second minute by Whitt Tisdale ‘26. In shocking fashion, the Scots scored an insurance goal twenty or so seconds into the second half, off the foot of Mercer Stout ‘22. Huntingdon scored on a late effort, but the Scots held on to win 2-1 and advance to the conference semi-final game.
The boys continued their success into Saturday with perfect playing conditions to take on our very talented conference rivals, the Maryville Scots. There was a lot of hype going into this game as Covenant prevailed over Maryville in the regular season but only on a 1-0 victory. The CCS announced the conference players of the year during the days leading up to the game and Covenant center back “Handsome” James Patterson ‘23 was given the title of “Defensive Player of the Year” and Maryville forward William Bryan was given the title of “Rookie of the Year.” As the two were set to go head-to-head on Saturday, the tension was slowly building. The game did not go as expected—quite the opposite in fact. After a 0-0 draw in 2021 and a 1-0 win in the 2022 regular season, the Covenant “real” Scots were beating the “fake” Scots, 3-0 going into halftime. After a stellar pass from Kade Theunissen ‘24 to Tisdale, Tisdale was fouled in the box and Patterson buried the penalty kick to elevate the Scots to a 1-0 lead in the thirteenth minute. Four minutes later, in the seventeenth minute, Theunissen found the back of the net, elevating Covenant to two goals to Maryville’s none. Six minutes later in the twenty-third minute, one of the most electric and anticipated events of the game occurred. Senior Nathan Laughlin ‘23 headed the ball into the back of the net for his first career collegiate goal. The crowd erupted as not only was Covenant seemingly in a decisive lead, but Nathan’s goal was quite emotional and exciting as he had been seeking this milestone for four years. This joy was particularly noticed in Nathan’s younger brother, Luke Laughlin ‘25, who got to celebrate his older brother’s first career goal, a mere weeks after they celebrated Luke achieving the same milestone. Covenant not only had a stellar game offensively but also defensively. Will Kenas ‘23 and the Covenant defense held Rookie of the Year William Bryan to zero goals, and Parker Rody ‘25 led the defensive effort holding Ndubueze Henry to no goals. Maryville scored twice in the second half, with an attempt at second life, but Covenant held on to win, advancing to the conference finals where they will face LaGrange on Saturday.
The Scots are seeking revenge against LaGrange on Saturday, after losing to them in the regular season in a heartbreaking 3-2 loss. Come out on Saturday, make the drive, and support your Scots!!! It’s ring season, ladies and gentlemen!!