Having already clinched the SAA regular season championship, the Oglethorpe men's soccer team looked to end their regular season on a good note for their five seniors on Senior Night against Centre. However, the Colonels came back from a 2-1 second-half deficit to spoil the Stormy Petrels' undefeated SAA campaign with a 3-2 victory. The result dropped Oglethorpe to 10-3-2 and 5-1-1 in SAA competition to round out the regular season.

The Petrels started a little bit sluggish, giving up the game's opening goal to the Colonels in the 19th minute, but they seemed to find their footing as the game went along. Senior midfielder Nick Muntean tied the score in the 26th minute when he ran onto the end of a pass from freshman midfielder Topher Marshall and slotted the ball past Centre goalkeeper Bailey Spade for his team-leading 11th goal of the season. As the half continued to unfold, the Petrels continued to attack the Colonels goal, outshooting them 6-3 over the course of the period.

As the second half got underway, the Petrels continued to go in search of a go-ahead tally and they found it in the 69th minute. Sophomore defender Jonathan Guy collected the ball on the left side of the penalty area, beat a defender, and slammed the ball past Spade from an acute angle to give his team a 2-1 advantage. The goal was the first of Guy's career. 

It looked as though the Petrels would be able to hold out for the victory, but they conceded the equalizer in the 79th minute when the Colonels' Connor Reed got loose in the box on a corner kick and headed the ball past senior goalkeeper Vaughn Moore. It then looked like the game might be headed for extra time, but Alexander Garuba found the back of the net for Centre in the 90th minute, just 35 seconds from the end of regulation. 

Oglethorpe outshot Centre 12-9 for the game, including a 6-5 edge for the Petrels in shots on goal. The Petrels also saw an edge in the corner kick department, taking seven to Centre's five. Muntean finished the game with five shots, putting two of them on target. Moore recorded two saves on the night, as well. 

It was an unfortunate end to the night for the team's seniors: goalkeeper Vaughn Moore; defenders Westin Lendon and Joe Goodwin; and midfielders Nick Muntean and Martijn Edelman. However, they'll get to continue their senior season with more home games as the Petrels get set to host the SAA Tournament as the No. 1 seed. 

"Obviously, this is a disappointing result tonight, especially for our seniors," said Head Coach Jon Akin. "We gave up three goals off of set-piece situations, which is something we work on a lot. Hopefully, going into the SAA Tournament, this will be a wake-up call for our guys as to how quickly your season can end from this point on if you have just a couple of lapses."

The top-seeded Petrels will host No. 8 seed Sewanee in the quarterfinal round of the SAA playoffs next Saturday at 5 p.m. on the Oglethorpe Track and Field. If they win that game, they'll host the remaining two rounds of the SAA Championship, as well.