ATLANTA – The Oglethorpe Stormy Petrels recorded a historic year in Head Coach Jon Akin's 21st season, featuring broken records, a pair of SAA titles, and an NCAA championship appearance.
The season was highlighted by the team recording an Oglethorpe record 13 shutouts on the season. This marked the team record for shutouts in a season and helped freshman goalkeeper Nicolas Mejia earn the individual record for shutouts in a season.
The season began with a 1-0 win over No. 11 Washington & Lee, then the Petrels tied Covenant and later fell 2-1 to Lynchburg. This rocky beginning proved to just be an instance of Akin's team finding their footing, as Oglethorpe dominated the rest of the season in and out of conference. After Lynchburg, the Petrels went on a seven-game winning streak, six of which were shutouts, which included a 6-0 win against Huntington and 4-0 wins against Piedmont, Birmingham Southern and Millsaps.
Southern Athletic Association play began earlier in that streak with a 2-0 win over Centre, which was also Oglethorpe's home opener. The streak was interrupted by a 2-2 draw to No. 3 Emory, then a heartbreaking 2-1 loss at Rhodes. The Petrels bounced back with a win against Berry, closing the regular season.
In the first round of the SAA tournament, which Oglethorpe hosted, the Stormy Petrels crushed Millsaps 5-0. Sewanee was a quick 2-0 victory in the semifinals, then Oglethorpe overtook Rhodes with a 3-0 win to claim the SAA title.
From there, the Petrels headed to the NCAA championship to face No. 16 Colorado College, a former conference rival from the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference days. The Petrels were looking forward to advancing and hopefully facing regional host Emory once again, but Oglethorpe's season ended with a round of 64 finish after falling 3-2 to Colorado College.
Award Winners and Record Breakers
- Ben Alram was named the SAA tournament MVP and later the SAA offensive player of the year. He now ranks third for season points and is tied for third in season assists in program history.
- All-SAA first team: Ben Alram, Daniel Amah, Adrian Levy, JR Cozine.
- All-SAA second team: Luke Ferrari, Jake Locklear, Cristian Medina.
- All-SAA honorable mentions: Dylan Bapst, Carlos Cavallaro, Javier Martinez, Nicolas Mejia, Nicolas Sciarra.
- Athlete of the Week recognitions: Mejia (2x), Cozine (2x), Alram, Locklear, Medina, Amah.
- Freshman goalkeeper Nicolas Mejia set the school record for season shutouts and goals against average and has already surpassed the career shutout record.
- SAA all-tournament team: Ben Alram (MVP), Daniel Amah, JR Cozine.
- Jon Akin was named conference coach of the year for the ninth time (seventh in the SAA).
Individual Leaders
- Ben Alram ranked No. 1 in the SAA for shots, goals, assists, game-winning-goals, and points. He totaled 13 goals, five of which were game winners, 11 assists, 69 shots, and 42 points. He tied for 15th in NCAA Division III for assists.
- Nicolas Mejia tied for No. 1 in NCAA Division III for shutouts. He recorded 13 shutouts, 45 saves, recorded a 0.58 goal-against average, and a 0.804 save percentage after facing 141 shots. Mejia ranked No. 1 in the SAA for goal-against average, second for saves, and sixth for saves per game.
- JR Cozine recorded six goals, 10 assists, 48 shots, and 22 points. He ranked second in the SAA for assists and points, third for goals, fourth for shots, and 10th for shots on goal. Cozine ranked 35th in the NCAA for assists.
- Cristian Medina made six goals, three assists, 35 shots, and 15 points. He ranked second in conference for goals and shots on goal, seventh for assists, ninth for shots, and fourth for points.
- Adrian Levy recorded five goals, four of which were game winners, four assists, 32 shots, and 15 points. He ranked fifth in the SAA for goals, fourth for assists, sixth for shots on goal, second for game-winning goals, and sixth for points.
- Nicolas Sciarra recorded three goals and three assists. He ranked eighth in conference for assists.
- Aaron Ibe tallied three goals and one assist.
- Chris Veglia scored three goals.
Season notes
- Record: 14-3-2 (6-1 SAA)
- Oglethorpe secured its seventh regular-season conference title and 10th title overall.
- With 11 All-SAA player nods, the team tied the highest number of all-conference nods.
- Oglethorpe ranked 11th in the NCAA for corner kicks per game, 38th for points per game, 50th for save percentage, 33rd for shots per game, third for shutout percentage, 28th for total assists, and 39th for total points.
- Oglethorpe ranked No. 1 in the SAA for every statistical category except saves.
- Jon Akin achieved his 200th win with the 5-0 victory over Millsaps in the conference tournament.
- Combined, the team made 47 goals, 44 assists, and took 137 corner kicks.
Additional Notes
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