The Emory University men's soccer team capped off an unblemished opening weekend by defeating Covenant College, 2-1, in the Sonny Carter Invitational championship game Saturday night in Atlanta.
The Eagles utilized a pair of second half goals to complete the comeback victory and bring the Sonny Carter Invitational crown back to Emory's campus. Following the conclusion of the tournament, the Eagles saw five players selected to the All-Tournament Team headlined by senior Josh Grand who was named Tournament MVP. Joining him were graduate student Ignacio Cubeddu, Logan Steren, Jack Burgess and Geoffrey Halpern.
After Friday's game featured late-game heroics, Saturday's contest boasted theatrics as well with the Eagles scoring twice moments apart midway through the second half to secure the victory.
The game stayed knotted at 0-0 until shortly after the teams returned from the halftime break with Covenant firing the opening salvo. The Scots' Whitt Tisdale broke through the scoring column with a goal in the 52nd minute.
The deficit was short-lived as senior Owen Clark found the equalizer in the 56th minute with a header into the back of the net following a corner kick from Burgess.
Three minutes later, Cubeddu notched his first Emory Eagles tally with the go ahead strike to the right post after being set up on a nice touch pass by Grand.
The Eagles defense allowed just one shot by Tisdale across the final 31:21 to clinch the win. Emory controlled possession throughout the contest, ending with a 26-6 edge in total shots, with a 17-3 margin in the second half, and had a 7-2 advantage in shots on goal. The Eagles also drew 11 corner kicks compared to Covenant's two.
Sonny Carter Invitational All-Tournament Team
Emory:
Josh Grand - MVP
Ignacio Cubeddu
Logan Steren
Jack Burgess
Geoffrey Halpern
Covenant:
Whitt Tisdale
Jackson Bostrom
Daniel Wallies
WLU:
Spencer Furman
Kaden Zion
Oglethorpe:
Anthony Rouse
Ethan Martinez