Fall 2023 Athletics Review — Centenary Magazine

Football

The Gents made their historic return to the gridiron this season for the first time since the 1940's and outscored their nine opponents 375-113 while recording three shutouts under the direction of head coach Byron Dawson.

Centenary finished 8-1 and opened the season with seven straight wins before falling to the Arkansas Baptist College Buffaloes on November 4 in Little Rock, Arkansas. The Gents finished off an impressive exhibition season with a 27-10 victory over the Lyon College Scots on November 11 in Batesville, Arkansas. The game against Lyon College was the Gents' third road game in a span of just 13 days.

Take a look back at a historic evening in August 2023 here.

Men’s Soccer

The Gents finished 4-9-3 overall and 1-6-1 in Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference play under the direction of third-year head coach Kevin White.

Centenary finished 3-4-1 at home and 1-5-2 in road/neutral contests. Thirteen different Gents scored a goal this past season and 11 tallied at least one assist.

Senior F Rene Escobar (Cypress, Texas) led the team in goals with four and right behind him with three each were junior D Dylan Allred (Lafayette, Louisiana) and senior MF Hunter Booth (Harrodsburg, Kentucky). Escobar's ten points led the team and Allred was second with seven.

Senior F/MF Michael Smith (Baton Rouge, Louisiana) was named to the 2023 SCAC All-Conference Team, earning Honorable-Mention honors, and was the lone Gent on the squad.

Smith earned all-conference honors for the first time in his career following an impressive senior season in which he started all 16 of the Gents' matches and scored his first career goal. Smith's goal came in a 5-2 victory over Huntingdon College at home on September 10 and he added a pair of assists during the season for a total of four points. He added an assist in the match against Huntingdon and had another in a 3-2 win against Howard Payne on September 23.

Junior F Ron Masti (Houston, Texas) had a solid season with two goals and two assists for a total of six points, and senior D Adam Bihler (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) scored a pair of goals, and junior D Nick Valero (Dallas, Texas) tallied two assists.

Gents' junior GK Casey Clemo (Forney, Texas) and junior Sam Brocato (Leesville, Louisiana) shared time in goal during the season as Clemo played in 12 matches and started nine while Brocato played in six with four starts before missing the last few weeks of the season with an injury.

Clemo finished second in the league in saves (65), first in saves per game (5.42), and sixth in save percentage at .699. He ranked eighth in goals against average (GAA) at 2.76 and recorded one shutout. Brocato made 24 saves for the season and picked up a win over Howard Payne.

Women’s Soccer

The Ladies finished 1-12-3 overall and 0-6-1 in conference play. Centenary, under the guidance of fourth-year head coach Morgan Dorsey, finished 1-4-2 at home and 0-8-1 in road/neutral contests.

Despite the Ladies' struggles this past season, one constant theme was strong defense. Centenary held 12 of its 16 opponents to two goals or less and recorded four shutouts. The Maroon and White held seven opponents to one goal or less and one of the highlights of the season was earning a scoreless tie at Austin College on October 15, despite only traveling with 11 players due to injuries.

Sophomore D/MF Kylie Zeller (Denham Springs, Louisiana) notched her first career goal to give the Ladies a 2-1 home win over Belhaven on September 12. Centenary placed two on the 2023 SCAC All-Conference Team as senior F/MF Daisy Acosta (Deer Park, Texas) and junior GK Madison Ersoff (Shreveport, Louisiana) each earned Honorable Mention honors.

Acosta finished her solid career having played in 61 matches and starting 49. She earned all-conference honors for the second time in her career after being named to the SCAC All-Freshman Team in 2020. She finishes her career with five goals, three assists, and 13 points. Acosta took a team-high 18 shots with a team-leading seven on goal this past season.

Ersoff had an impressive campaign as she led the conference in saves (115) and ranked first in saves per game (7.19) and shutouts (four), fifth in save percentage (.767), and ninth in goals against average (GAA) at 2.19. She tied for 44th in the country in saves. She earned all-conference recognition for the first time in her career. She was named the SCAC Defensive Player of the Week on September 18, earning the honor for the first time in her career.

Ersoff, a two-time member of the SCAC Student-Athlete Academic Honor Roll during her career, tallied 10+ saves in a match three times this season and recorded a season-best 13 against Texas Lutheran on October 6 at home.

Her 115 saves this season are the third most in a season in the Division III era (2011-present) in program history, her 2.19 GAA is ninth, and her 13 saves against TLU are tied for the sixth-most in a match in the D3 era. Ersoff's 216 career saves put her in third place all-time and just one away from second place and her 2.23 career GAA ranks fifth.

Volleyball

The Ladies finished the season 7-23 overall and 0-16 in SCAC play.

Centenary, under the direction of fifth-year head coach Ashley McDonough, recorded five sweeps and hosted two major tournaments during the season, one over Labor Day weekend and then a SCAC Crossover event in October. The Ladies' win over Williams Baptist at home on October 14 marked career win number 100 for McDonough.

The Ladies' 106 digs against Louisiana Christian University on October 17 at home are the 10th-most in a match in the Division III era. Centenary had 16 aces in its home sweep over Tougaloo on September 27, which is tied for ninth in a single match in the D3 era.

Ladies' Season Team Statistics:

Centenary finished with 845 assists, 143 service aces, 49 solo blocks, 1643 digs, and 940 kills. The Ladies averaged 9.22 kills per set, 8.28 assists/set, 1.25 blocks/set, 1.40 aces/set, and 16.11 digs/set. The Ladies posted an .098 hitting % with 574 errors in 3,720 total attacks.

Ladies' Season Statistical Individual Leaders:

Aces: Sophomore S Meadow Smith (Mansfield, Texas) – 32

Assists: Smith – 598

Blocks (Solo): Freshman MB Bailee Henderson (Monroe, Louisiana) – 16

Digs: Junior OH/DS Kiara Liedy (Sugar Land, Texas) – 446

Kills: Junior RS Jaylin St. Martin (New Orleans, Louisiana) – 212

Sophomore DS/L Daly Nagot (Benton, Louisiana) had an impressive season as she ranked fourth on the team in assists (38) and aces (22) and third in digs with 217. Smith ranked fourth in the conference in assists per set at 5.86 and Liedy was eighth in digs/set at 4.37.