Some of the players on view with the alumni were members from the teams days on the old Gulf Coast campus on the beachfront in Gulfport. Other former coast alumni watched from the bleachers. The coast campus was damaged during the Katrina hurricane of 2005 before the new Tradition Campus was later constructed. The game was played on the coast as part of the present day Crusaders weekend training camp there and community outreach.  

The game was a terrific battle for the full 90 minutes. Level at 0-0 at the half, chances were few and far between. In the second half the alumni opened the scoring when former Guatemala national team player and forward Eric Diaz outstripped the Carey backline and drilled a superb strike past Carl Goody in the Crusader goal. Diaz graduated in 2004 and is a branch manager for a New Orleans car rental firm. Crusader newcomer Alex Mallion, an incoming freshman, rose high at the far post to direct a header into the alumni goal from a corner-kick and even the score before senior Brendan Connolly put his team ahead.

The final minutes held much drama as with 5 minutes to go the alumni capitalized on a Joe McNiell error to knot the score at 2-2 but with just seconds remaining the current Crusader team showed it's never-say-die attitude with a last gasp winner.