The Emory University men's soccer team pulled out all the stops Friday night as they stormed back to tie Covenant College, 3-3, in a thrilling opening night match at the Woodruff PE Center in Atlanta.
Junior transfer Sebastian Rincon made his first game with the Eagles one to remember as he provided the heroics, scoring with four seconds remaining to help Emory cap off the wild comeback.
The Eagles sent all 11 players into the box with the clock dwindling as senior Cole Hendricks prepared to send a corner kick into the crowded 18. Freshman Josh Grand flipped a header on target but it found the forehead of Scots defender in front. The rebound made its way to senior Owen Hallauer who sent a header towards the net, putting enough on it where Rincon was able to sprint to it and knock in the game-tying score.
The goal was the exclamation point to a dramatic comeback as the Eagles erased a 2-0 halftime hole, outscoring the Scots 3-1 across the final 21 minutes of play to escape defeat.
Emory finished the contest 20-12 in shots as well as with a 14-8 edge in shots on goal while controlling 56 percent of the total possession.
Sophomore Ryan Hayes began the comeback with his first career goal in the 70th minute to cut the Covenant lead to 2-1. Hayes converted a header to the right corner following an Alex Mills corner kick. Ten minutes later Hallauer knocked in the equalizer with a strike from the penalty circle after a free kick sent in from classmate William Knight.
Things began to look bleak as Covenant answered with a last-minute goal, scoring on an indirect kick opportunity inside the box to move the Scots in front with 4:38 remaining.
The Eagles continued to apply pressure in the waning moments, recording four shots on target before finally cashing in with the Rincon marker before time expired.
The Sonny Carter Invitational concludes Saturday afternoon as Emory battled Illinois Wesleyan at 4:30 PM before Covenant takes on Oglethorpe. OU and IWU duked it out to a 1-1 draw in the opener Friday afternoon.