October 17, 2007

 

Athens, TN --- In the final game of the AAC regular season, the Bryan Lions travelled just down the road to visit the Tennessee Wesleyan Bulldogs for a matchup that would determine final seedings for next week’s Appalachian Athletic Conference Tournament. The Lions sat in third place, hoping to remain in that position heading into the postseason, while TWC sat at the bottom of the standings, winless in conference.

Less than two minutes after the kickoff Kyle Wagley played a ball long to “Jota” Da Silva who with his back to the goal at the eighteen received, turned and fired the ball in the upper right corner of the goal beyond Wesleyan’s diving keeper, Cory Ferrell. With 43 minutes to go in the first period, the Lions held a one goal lead.

The Lions continued their pressure, playing  the ball to their streaking forwards nearly the entire first half. Forward Mano Silva made Wesleyan’s defenders miss time and again as he showed his superior ball handling skills which created space to set up teammates. The Lions narrowly missed on a few scoring chances, and TWC began to turn up their own pressure.

Lions’ goalie Carlos Sanchez made a miraculous save, getting a hand on a blast from inside the box and deflecting it away. The Bryan goalie would also deliver again when a ball crossed into the box was drilled off the cross bar and Sanchez sent the rebound out wide left, finding  a way to turn the Bulldogs away without a goal yet again.

Freshman Daniel O’Kane (Left Back) had a great game for the visiting Lions. Utilizing passes down the sidelines to the attacking midfielders and winning 50/50 balls, keeping the Bulldogs out of the Lions’ half of the field. Tim Harris, brought into the game to add more speed up front for the Lions, received a pass from midfield and crossed the ball into the box to Ricky Angel who found the back of the net, extending the Lions lead to two goals.

The Lions came out planning to put the game out of reach in the second half; however they came out looking sloppy and sluggish. Tennessee Wesleyan pushed the pace, hoping to claw back into the contest. Bryan’s defenders struggled to clear the ball, but they managed to hold strong until the 74^th minute when Wesleyan managed to push a goal past Sanchez. The score stood at Bryan 2, TWC 1.

Assistant Coach Joey Johnson told his players, “We’re in for a sixteen minute battle now. It’s about hard work; just about who wants it more.” The Lions had their hands full as the host Bulldogs were only one goal away from evening the score and began to push the tempo. The game got more physical as the clock wound down, and tensions rose as Bryan fought hard to maintain their lead and head home with a big conference victory.

As the final whistle blew the Lions stood victorious, having clinched a third place seed in the upcoming conference tournament, and heading back to Dayton with a 2-1 victory.