The Oglethorpe men's soccer team clinched its third consecutive SAA regular season title Friday night with a 2-1 win over in-state opponent Berry at the Oglethorpe Track and Field. The Stormy Petrels were down 1-0 midway through the second half, but junior midfielder Topher Marshall turned the game around with a second-half brace to ensure Oglethorpe their third straight outright league title.

With the game and Oglethorpe's third straight conference title in the balance, Marshall picked up the Petrels and carried them to victory on his back in the second half. Knowing that they needed a win to ensure themselves the outright SAA title and the No. 1 seed in the upcoming SAA Tournament, the Petrels went desperately in search of the equalizer after falling behind just after halftime.

After a tense 20 minutes where both teams had chances to score a goal, the Petrels won a free kick just outside the box in the 68th minute. Marshall stepped up and hammered his shot, which was set up just to the left of goal at about 20 yards out, over the wall and past Berry goalkeeper Carson Oakes to tie the score at 1-1.

Marshall's run of dominance continued just a couple minutes later. In the 70th minute, he took a pass from junior forward Devon Patterson just outside the box, dribbled into the area, and fired what turned out to be the game-winning goal to the left of Oakes, setting off a wild celebration at the Oglethorpe Track and Field. The Petrels had the lead they needed, 2-1.

They did have to see out the final 20 minutes of the game, but were able to lock down the Berry attack, which did not get a quality chance on the Oglethorpe goal after they fell behind. The Petrels secured their victory and with it, their third regular season league crown.

The Petrels held the visiting Vikings down defensively the entire first half, but a misstep at the back cost Oglethorpe in the 50th minute, and suddenly, despite being outshot 10-3 to that point in the contest, the visitors had a 1-0 lead. That set off a back-and-forth 20 minutes of play where Berry had several chances to put the Petrels in serious trouble with a second goal and the Petrels had several to score the game-tying goal. 

Oglethorpe goalkeeper Luke Whelan made three saves during that stretch, and the Petrel defense was able to clear a ball off the line that was past Whelan and bound for goal, preserving the 1-0 deficit and allowing for the later comeback.

The Petrels overcame a bit of a sluggish start to control the first half, despite not getting on the scoreboard over the opening 45 minutes. The home side outshot Berry 10-2 over the opening half of play and put two of those shots on target officially. Marshall hit a shot from distance that was curling toward the upper-left corner of goal, but it skipped off the crossbar in the 37th minute. 

For the game, Oglethorpe outshot Berry 19-12 overall and 7-5 on goal. The Petrels took three corner kicks to the Vikings' two on the evening.

Whelan finished with three saves en route to the victory, while Marshall fired five shots and put three of them on target. 

"Tonight was a tough game and we always knew it was going to be tough," said Oglethorpe head coach Jon Akin. "We expended a lot of energy beating Emory the other night while Berry had a full week of rest, and they were going to make it tough anyway. That's a good team over there, a well-coached team, and they made things difficult for us. We recovered, though, and got the outstanding performance from Topher, and were able to grind out a result. I'm proud of our guys for finding a way to win even when we weren't playing particularly well overall. That's the hallmark of a great team."

With the win, the Petrels improved to 13-2-1 on the season overall and finished the SAA slate at 6-0-1, marking the second straight season that the team has made it through the conference schedule without losing a game. The win means the Petrels finish on 19 points, clinching the outright title over second-place Centre, who enters their final game against Sewanee Saturday night with 14 points. 

"I'm very proud of this run of conference titles," continued Akin. "Over the past three years, our body of work in conference play has been significant. We've lost one conference game in the last three years, showing that we've been the best team in the league player-for-player during that time. I think we've also played the best brand of soccer during that time, as well...fun for the fans to watch, entertaining and creative. We pride ourselves on our style of play, and for us to get the results we have with our style of play is hugely satisfying for all of us. Winning three years in a row is a testament to the players we have, it's a testament to their will, and it's a testament to where the program stands right now."

The Petrels will now take on NAIA foe Georgia Gwinnett in their final regular season game Monday night at 7 p.m. Their conference tournament run will start on Saturday, Oct. 28, when they host No. 8 seed Hendrix at the Oglethorpe Track and Field at a time to be announced. If they get through that game, the Petrels will host the final two rounds of the SAA Tournament the following weekend.