GEORGETOWN, Texas - A warm day out in Georgetown, Texas set the stage for a much needed rematch between the Berry Vikings and the Oglethorpe Petrels from their bout last Saturday at Bob Pearson field. With the previous match ending in a stalemate, each team was looking to prove who was the best the second time around, but with higher stakes due to this game being a part of the SAA conference playoff tournament. The Vikings would prevail in the rematch 3-1 to advance to the SAA Semifinals.
It did not take long for the Berry Vikings to step up to the plate as freshman, Tim Ratokhin buried the ball into the back of the net at minute 7 coming from a fantastic service from freshman
Parker Pollay. The Vikings would carry their advantage all the way into the end of the first half with a 1-0 lead.
The second half commenced and with much intent and aggression once again from the Vikings, as Tim Ratokhin gave the assist to sophomore,
Jack Raulston in minute 47 as he spectacularly struck the ball with his weak foot, beating the keeper at the near post. This goal was crucial for the Berry Vikings as they now had a bit of real estate moving forward at 2-0.
Through the gritty efforts of freshman
Sean Martinez, he was able to draw a red card to get Oglethorpe's own Rhys Pollard sent out of the game at minute 69. This brought Oglethorpe down to 10 men versus Berry's 11.Â
At minute 82, the Petrels, with a little bit of fight still in them, brought the score to 2-1 with Jackson Biggs putting it away to bring the game back on for a potential come back.
With the remaining eight minutes of the match being chippy and very energy heavy displays from both sides Senior
Max Albertson put the nail in the coffin with an assertive driven shot past the Oglethorpe keeper with 2.7 seconds left to secure a 3-1 victory for the Vikings to advance them onto the next round.
The Vikings play the 1st seed Trinity Tigers tomorrow at 3:00 PM CT/4:00 PM PT to try and continue their winning ways to advance them to the finals.
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