MOUNT BERRY, Ga. - The Vikings (5-7, 1-3 SAA) couldn't put the cherry on top of this senior day as they suffered a blowout loss to the Centre Colonels after a hard-fought first half, the final score 6-14.
Tad Zappa led the team in goals with a hat-trick which was his career-high, capping off his days at Valhalla Stadium in style. Despite the loss, Evan Cuffe was a brick wall on defense, ending the day with twelve saves.
The Vikings won the opening faceoff, but it was the Colonels who got things going for the day, applying pressure to jump out to an early two-goal lead. William Lee was the straw that stirred the coffee for Berry's offense early, scoring the first goal to erase the zero for the home team.
Despite the early deficit, the game was shaping up to be a classic as the Vikings kept themselves within striking distance. With nine minutes on the clock for the quarter, Michael Beirne scored a goal man-up to tie the game for the Vikings. The Colonels got their lead back with seven minutes on the game clock, but they faced a hard battle to maintain it as the Vikings kept creating opportunities to knot the game as the half came to a close. But Centre weathered the storm and entered halftime ahead by a point, the score 4-5.
Looking to take advantage of a rattled Centre team, the Vikings pushed the pace out of the halftime break, looking for a chance to tie. However, the Colonels buckled down on defense and found their offense, exploding for a five-goal period. The Vikings struggled to get anything going in response, and a nightmare period ended with the Colonels ahead by six goals.
Entering the final period, the Vikings earned the first possession and once again tried to apply pressure to have a chance down the stretch. Tad Zappa scored the first goal of the quarter to kick off the comeback for the Vikings, but Centre, determined to put the game away, extended their lead to nine goals with six minutes left in the game. The final favored the Colonels, but Finn McClendon had the final goal of the day to make the final score 6-14.
The Vikings will head to Arkansas for their penultimate game against the Hendrix Warriors on Saturday, April 18. The game starts at 1:00 p.m.
