DANVILLE, Va. — For 90 minutes, the Averett University men's soccer team gave Virginia Wesleyan College all it could handle. Unfortunately for the Cougars, it wasn't enough as the Marlins escaped Daly Field with a 2-1 victory on Tuesday night.
 
Averett (1-5) gave easily its best performance of the 2016 season. With USA South Conference play opening on Friday night against Covenant College, head coach Philip Wilson believes his team's performance on Tuesday will be the turning point of the season.
 
"We knew that Virginia Wesleyan was a consistently good team," Wilson said. "I'm very proud of the way the whole team played and they brought the energy we needed, worked hard for each other, and created some excellent chances. I think this was our most complete performance overall and I'm excited to see how we go into conference play this weekend."
 
A barnburner throughout, Virginia Wesleyan (2-2-1) found itself ahead 2-1 going into the final minute of the game. However, Averett was determined to keep pushing for the equalizer and nearly found it late. Sophomore David Cuperman got things started with a shot at the 89:02 mark that was blocked by Virginia Wesleyan's defense.
 
Seconds later, the Cougars nearly tied the game when sophomore Ville Hautakangas headed in a shot from freshman Sebastian Kjernholm's corner kick, but the Marlins' goalkeeper Jay Fox was there to make the save.
 
Averett had one more shot at the equalizer in the final second of the game, but the Cougars caught a bit of bad luck and the ball sailed high over the goal, sealing the game for the Marlins.
 
Junior Tobias Andreasson got the Cougars on the board in the 10th minute when he took a pass from Kjernholm and slipped his shot past Fox for the game's first goal.
 
Virginia Wesleyan fought back, though, and knotted the score at 1-1 seven minutes later when Tanner Martin took a dish from Ricky Perrault and buried home his shot. The Marlins didn't wait long to find the eventual game-winner when Codi Dalton headed in his shot at the 19:51 mark.
 
The Cougars' offense tested the Marlins' backline the entire game, posting a season-high 20 shots. Redshirt freshman Austin Bramhall recorded another solid night between the sticks, posting 11 saves.
 
Averett travels to Lookout Mountain, Georgia, on Friday to take on Covenant at 4 p.m.