Hawks soccer pounds Tennessee Wesleyan on Senior Night

Robert Whitnell scored three goals for a hat trick, and Ciaran Traquair had a pair of assists as the Shorter College men’s soccer team defeated visiting Tennessee Wesleyan 4-1 Wednesday night.

Whitnell, a sophomore forward from Brentwood, England, made a shot in the very first minute of the game off of an assist by Wayne Bailey.

He followed that up with goals in the eighth and 18th minutes with assists from Angel Damian and Traquair respectively.

“He’s playing really well this season, especially in the last couple of weeks,” Hawks coach Josh Severns said.

Bailey made the final goal for Shorter in the 54th minute off of another assist from Traquair.

Wesleyan took just four shots and came up with a goal in the 30th minute while the Hawks celebrated Senior Night. “It was good to send off the seniors the right way,” Severns said.

The night marked the first group of seniors that have gone all the way through the soccer program and graduated when it was started in 2003. Since that time, they have come a long way, nearly doubling their wins this year than the previous three years combined. The seniors are: Wayne Bailey, Ciaran Traquair, Yulian Paramo, Chris Valentine, Noe Carrillo, Stephen Smith and Shurman Raphael.

Shorter (12-5, 4-3) will visit Southern States Athletic Conference opponent Southern Wesleyan Saturday for their final regular season contest.