by Jules Gonsoulin

editor-in-chief

The Millsaps men’s soccer team kept its stellar season alive Sunday with a conference championship clinching win against the Sewanee Tigers. Sewanee, the No. 8 seed, hoped to keep their Cinderella story of a postseason going, but were eventually put away by the Majors’ strong offensive and defensive performance.

The true star of this matchup was senior Nico Roth. Roth scored in the 15th and 75th minutes in an inspiring effort which carried the Majors offense throughout the game. His two goals on Sunday bring him to 15 goals on the season.

The Majors’ victory Sunday solidifies the 2015 campaign as the most successful in the history of the program. This will be the first time the Majors’ soccer team has earned a trip to the NCAA tournament. Furthermore, the team’s 14 wins (a number which could still increase) are the most by any Millsaps men’s soccer team in the program’s history.

The SAA championship also further establishes Coach Steve Voltz as the best coach to lead the program. Voltz is already the only Millsaps men’s soccer coach to cultivate a winning record for his coaching career.

Voltz is quoted on gomajors.com praising his team’s championship opponent, saying “Sewanee was more than a worthy opponent, we needed every bit of effort to win today.”

Indeed, the Tigers seemed to be on a mission throughout the tournament. They upset the No. 1-seed Oglethorpe Petrels in the first round of the tournament, and charged on to the conference championship game, where they provided Millsaps’ biggest test of the tournament. Prior to the Sewanee game, Millsaps had scored 11 goals through two games, and only allowed two. The Majors’ victorious 2-1 scoreline Sunday shows that the team needed to rely heavily on the defense.

A key aspect of that necessary defense is goaltender Jonathan Huebbe. Huebbe recorded six total saves on the game, including a string of clutch late saves to keep the match out of Sewanee’s reach, even after they cut into the Majors’ lead in the 80th minute.

The Majors will travel to St. Louis to play Washington University-St. Louis this Saturday in the first round of the NCAA tournament.