The Oglethorpe men's soccer team found themselves engaged in a tight, back-and-forth battle with Rhodes Friday evening at the Oglethorpe Track and Field, but a late goal by freshman forward Hudson Fennell lifted the Stormy Petrels to a 3-2 victory over the visiting Lynx on a wet night in Atlanta and improved them to a perfect 3-0 in SAA play. The victory also moved the team to 3-4-2 on the season overall.

The two teams went back and forth all night, with Oglethorpe taking a pair of one-goal leads and Rhodes answering back to tie the game both times. The Petrels finally broke through for good in the 78th minute. Rhodes gave the ball away in their own end of the field, which gave Fennell a breakaway. He took advantage of the opportunity by slotting a ball low and to the right of Rhodes goalkeeper Patrick Wilkerson, giving the home side a 3-2 lead they would never relinquish.

The Lynx pushed for a late equalizer, but never really had any golden opportunities to tie the game thanks to Oglethorpe's solid defending.

The two teams went into the halftime break with the contest tied 1-1, but the Petrels came out and took the lead right away. Junior forward Devon Patterson got on the end of a pinpoint cross from freshman defender Christian Waegelin in the 48th minute to give the home side a 2-1 advantage. Rhodes responded with a goal of their own in the 53rd minute, though, tying the game up again and setting the stage for the late theatrics.

In the first half, Oglethorpe jumped out to an early lead. The Petrels won a free kick at midfield in the 15th minute and junior goalkeeper Luke Whelan sent a perfect ball into the box. Junior defender Jordan Locke got on the end of it and headed it home, giving Oglethorpe a 1-0 advantage. However, Rhodes responded off a long throw-in 16 minutes later and the game would remain tied, 1-1, headed to halftime.

The Petrels outshot Rhodes 14-11 overall on the night, including 8-3 in shots on goal. They took four corner kicks to three for the Lynx, as well.

Individually, Locke and Fennell each fired three shots with Fennell putting a pair on target. 

"This was another good win for our group," said Oglethorpe head coach Jon Akin. "Rhodes frequently put us under pressure in this game, but I thought we did a good job of handling it, particularly late in the game when we were trying to close it out. We really didn't give them any good chances after taking the 3-2 lead. I think our early tough out-of-conference schedule continues to pay dividends with these all-important SAA games. We'll look to continue our good run of form on Sunday against Hendrix."

The Petrels will take on Hendrix Sunday afternoon at approximately 2:30 p.m. from the Oglethorpe Track and Field. It will be Senior Day for the Petrels, and they'll honor the careers of midfielder Gustavo Martinez, defender Micah Akin and midfielder McKinley Mercer.