The Covenant men's soccer team welcomed its first of two ODAC members this weekend to Scotland Yard on Friday night. It didn't go well for Hampden-Sydney as three early Covenant goals earned Covenant an eventual 4-1 win.
After earning a penalty kick himself, Kade Theunissen gave the Scots the lead in the ninth minute with a goal from the 12-yard spot. Less than three minutes later, Covenant doubled the lead on a Tyler Swinehart header off a free-kick from Theunissen. In the 16th minute, Covenant made it 3-0 as Whitt Tisdale buried the ball in the back of the net on the back end of a Fox Landgren cross.
The Tigers put four shots on goal in the first half, but Eli Honeycutt was true to all of them including a breakaway chance on the left side of his goal. In the 49th minute, Covenant converted a perfect counter-attack as Tisdale played in Theunissen who kicked the ball into a mostly open net to make it 4-1. The Tigers got a consolation reward in the 62nd minute as Tyler Petz got behind the defense on a cross that led to a tap-in goal at the near post. Hampden-Sydney kept up the pressure, but the Covenant defense held strong for the duration of the second half.
Covenant had its final chance to score in the 79th minute as Ty Morgan put a shot on goal, but it was saved at the top right.
Covenant moves to 1-0 all-time against Hampden-Sydney. Hampden-Sydney had an edge in shots at 21-11, but the Scots had the edge in shots on goal at 9-8. The Tigers had seven corner kicks while the Scots had one. Honeycutt brought in six saves, which ties his career high.
In what was a physical game, Covenant had the higher foul count at 20-16. The Tigers had six yellow cards while the Scots had two.
The Scots take on No. 3 Washington and Lee tomorrow night at 6:30 p.m.