On Emotional Night, Scots Draw with Sewanee

LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN -- It was a night unlike any other at Scotland Yard. With a capacity crowd on hand to remember and honor the life of David Taaffe, the Covenant men's soccer team and Sewanee ended in a 1-1 draw.

Much more happened than a soccer match on this night, however. Before the contest, the Scots honored David Taaffe by presenting his parents, and family, Taaffe's No. 6 jersey along with a moment of silence and prayer. The emotion and love poured out for the Taaffe family meant not many dry eyes on the faces of spectators and players.

Once the action began on the field, Covenant was the aggressor.

The Scots outshot Sewanee 12-4 in the opening period and found the back of the net in the 39th minute. Hunter Harrison headed in a score, his first of the season, off a corner kick from Michael Arango as Covenant grabbed a 1-0 lead heading into halftime.

Sewanee put more pressure on the Scots in the second period, but the Covenant defense held strong until late in the period. The intensity of play heated up as well as both Covenant's Matt Hudnut and Sewanee's Harrison Williams were red-carded in the second half. All told, the teams combined for 43 fouls and 12 cards for the match.

Sewanee finally capitalized on an opportunity as Ford Emerson dribbled past the Scots defense and knocked in the equalizer in the 83rd minute, his third goal of the season.

Neither team had a great chance the rest of the way in regulation. In the first overtime period, both teams offered up just one shot. Covenant's best chance to score came late in the second overtime period as Roy Anderson narrowly missed wide of the net on a diving header in the 109th minute.

Shuler Polk, the reigning USA South Defensive Player of the Week, made four saves for the Scots. Polk's counterpart in Sewanee's Jacob Zalewski also made four saves.

Covenant outshot Sewanee 18-15 and 11-3 in corner kicks.

The night was ultimately about celebrating the life of a young man who glorified God in everything he did both on and off the field in David Taaffe. After the match ended, the crowd sung the hymn "It Is Well With My Soul" with the men's soccer team. When all the verses had ended, a dead silence fell about Scotland Yard as the crowd seemed to not want this beautiful night to come to a close.

The Covenant community will never forget No. 6 David Taaffe.

Covenant will travel to Kentucky this weekend to face off against Transylvania and Hanover on Friday and Saturday.