The Oglethorpe men's soccer team celebrated Senior Day on Sunday at the Oglethorpe Track and Field and did so with a win, as they came back from an early 1-0 deficit to run past the visiting Hendrix Warriors, 3-1. The win improved the Stormy Petrels to 4-0 in SAA play and also brought them back to .500 on the season overall at 4-4-2. The former mark puts the Petrels a game atop the SAA standings with Berry and Millsaps both sitting at 3-1 with three games remaining on the conference slate.

The Warriors came out playing a high-pressure game and got an early goal as a reward, getting on the board in the 23rd minute for a 1-0 lead. However, the Petrels responded from there in a big way, putting Hendrix goalkeeper Nathan Myers under constant pressure.

The home side equalized in the 30th minute when, after a corner kick was cleared out of the box by the Warriors, the Petrels cycled the ball back around to the right to junior midfielder Josh Hoeft. Hoeft sent in a pinpoint cross that found the head of big junior defender Jordan Locke. Locke buried the ball in the back of the net to tie the score, 1-1. 

The Petrels found their way into the lead just before halftime on a similar play. Hoeft got the ball on the right side and sent in another beautiful cross. This time, it was sophomore midfielder Jose Perez getting on the end of it, pounding a shot past Myers to give Oglethorpe a 2-1 lead in the 44th minute.

The Petrels continued to put the Hendrix goal under siege in the second half. They outshot the Warriors 17-4 for the period and 31-8 for the game, but Myers made 10 saves, keeping the visitors in it. Still, Oglethorpe kept Hendrix from seeing much of the ball, as junior goalkeeper Luke Whelan was only forced to make three saves for the game and two in the second half. 

Oglethorpe finally broke through with the game-icing goal in the 81st minute. The Petrels had a free kick just outside of the box and just to the left of Hendrix's goal. Hoeft had his free kick cannon off the crossbar and the Petrels got the rebound and put three consecutive shots on frame in quick succession. The first two were saved and blocked, respectively, but freshman defender Christian Waegelin got another rebound and made no mistake on the third shot, burying it in the back of the net to give the Petrels a 3-1 lead and effectively put the game away. It served as the first goal of his collegiate career.

In addition to the 31-8 tally in total shots, the Petrels outshot the Warriors 13-4 in shots on goal. Oglethorpe also took 11 corner kicks to just two for Hendrix. 

Hoeft doubled his assist total on the season coming into the game, as the pair of assists he collected on Sunday gave him four on the season. Locke fired six shots, most of them headers off of set pieces, and put three of them on target. Sophomore midfielder Topher Marshall and freshman midfielder Alan Hernandez each fired five shots on the afternoon while Perez took three shots and put two on target.

Before the game, the Petrels celebrated the careers of defender Micah Akin, midfielder Gustavo Martinez and midfielder McKinley Mercer as part of Senior Day festivities. 

"I'm proud of the way the guys battled today after things didn't go our way early in this game," said Oglethorpe head coach Jon Akin. "Hendrix didn't make things easy for us, but we persevered and really controlled the game, especially in the second half. This was a well-deserved victory and it improves us to a perfect 4-0 on the season in conference play. We have three tough road games ahead to close the SAA regular season, but we've certainly put ourselves where we want to be through four games."

"I'm also proud of everything the seniors have accomplished," Akin continued. "All three have had great careers both on and off the field, and they've still got plenty left to accomplish this season, as well."

The Petrels will now hit the road for the remainder of the season. They'll begin by traveling to Birmingham, Alabama, and Jackson, Mississippi, next weekend. They'll take on Birmingham-Southern in the former Friday at 8:30 p.m. Eastern before continuing west to go against Millsaps Sunday at 3 p.m. Eastern. After that, they'll take on Berry to close out the SAA slate on Saturday, Oct. 22, before finishing the regular season with a non-conference contest against Georgia Gwinnett in Lawrenceville, Georgia, on Oct. 23.