Bryan College Gets Last Laugh

I was up at Bryan College, my Alma mater located in Dayton, TN, last Wednesday to film the great soccer rivalry between Bryan and Covenant College, a storied rivalry which goes back several decades and a rivalry which may very well have come to an end at about 9:45 pm Wednesday night.

Fortunately, the Lions won the match 1-0 on a goal in the second half by Junior Midfielder and Mesquite, Texas native Bennie Bardales. If the rivalry has ended, at least the Lions got the last laugh. When yours truly was a player way back in 1990, the first game I played in was against Covenant at their place high atop Lookout Mountain. We lost 4-0, thus continuing a "clean sheet" the Scotts had on Bryan for about a decade. Bryan went at least 10 years without scoring on Covenant, let alone beating the Scotts, until 1996 when BC Forward Gabe Hammelwright ended the scoreless and winless streak as the Lions toppled the Scotts 1-0.

Since then, Bryan has had the upper hand in most of the matches, including an incredible come from behind victory over Covenant in Dayton as the Lions, trailing 2-1 with under 2 minutes remaining, scored two goals to win in spectacular fashion. In 2007 and 08, the Lions won the regular season contests, but lost in the Appalachian Athletic Conference Tournament Semi-Finals to the Scotts two years in a row, the second of the two on Bryan's home pitch.

However, we Lions got the last laugh. Covenant has left both the AAC and the NAIA so we won't have to see them in the post season. For many reasons, I wish Covenant wouldn't make the move to NCAA Div. 3 and stay in the AAC so we could have another chance to beat them in the playoffs. But as it is, Bryan won't get that chance. So what though! If Bryan never plays Covenant again, the Lions won the last match and got the last laugh.

There are several great college soccer rivalries throughout the United States: Boston College vs Boston University, William &Mary vs Ole Dominion and Maryland vs North Carolina in NCAA Div. 1. In NCAA Div. 3, two Pennsylvania schools, Messiah and Elizabethtown, have an extremely heated rivalry. The Bryan-Covenant rivalry ranks right up there with them in intensity. It's a shame to see it go.