The Covenant men's soccer team rallied only to see a late lead slip away before falling to Brevard in a shootout in the USA South West Division Championship on Saturday afternoon at Scotland Yard.
Covenant and Brevard played to a wild, 4-4, tie in regulation and overtimes before the visiting Tornados slipped past the Scots to claim the West title with a 5-3 triumph in the shootout.
The Scots end the season with a 6-2-1 overall record.
Trailing 2-1 at halftime, Covenant wasted little time in tying the match.
Just 27 seconds in the second half, Mercer Stout collected a throw-in from Nathan Laughlin and scored from the top of the box. The goal was Stout's fifth of the year.
After 30 minutes of two sides battling for every possession in the tie match, Covenant took a 3-2 lead in the 78th minute. Kade Theunissen played a perfect cross into the six-yard box and to the feet of Knox Gibson, who chipped in the ball to give the Scots the lead for the first time in the contest. The goal was Gibson's fourth of the year.
That goal started a wild sequence of events over the final 12-plus minute of regulation.
Brevard evened the score again just 90 seconds later when a quick counter turned into a goal from Adam Spencer to make it 3-3.
The Scots had an answer, however. 37 seconds later, it was Keegan Weekley scoring his second goal of the match as he put away a cross from Thomas Drake to give the lead right back to the Scots at 4-3.
Just over three minutes after the Weekley score, Brevard struck again. A long cross into the box from Miles Schafer was headed in by Sam O'Callaghan in the 84th minute to knot the score at 4-4.
In the middle of all those scores, five yellow cards were assessed and Brevard's Estevan Berto picked up his second yellow to put the Tornados down a man for the remainder of the match.
Things simmered down over the final minutes as both teams could not put together another scoring chance and the match went into overtime. In the two overtime sessions, Brevard outshot Covenant 3-2, but both keepers stood tall.
In the shootout, each team converted on their first three attempts. Brevard made it four in a row on Inigo Satrustegui's score before Tornados keeper Pedro Campos made a save on Will Kenas' try. Vinicius Giannaccini clinched the match and the title for the Tornados with his conversion in the fifth round as Brevard went 5-for-5.
Weekley had two goals in the match for the Scots as he notched a score in the 16th minute that tied the contest at 1-1. Berto and Ryan Lynch also had first half goals for Brevard.
Covenant keeper Henry Hooks made four saves in his 110 minutes of work, while Campos also made four saves. Brevard held a 14-13 edge in total shots and the team combined for 39 fouls and seven cards.
Brevard (6-2-1) wins its first USA South postseason championship.
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