VIDEO - HEAD COACH ALEX VAN DER SLUIJS
WILMINGTON, Ohio – For the third time in four meetings, the Wilmington College men's soccer team's game with the University of Mount Union was decided in overtime. After not putting a shot on goal in the entire second half, the Fightin' Quakers scored the game-winner on the first shot of overtime in a 2-1 Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) victory on Saturday evening.
The win improves Wilmington to 9-0-2 on the season and 2-0-1 in OAC play while the loss, Mount Union's third straight, puts the visitors at 7-3-1 and 0-3-0 in conference competition.
The Purple Raiders took four of the game's first five shots including two being on net. Felix Maurer stopped the shots of both Colton Priester and Matthew Berner to keep the game scoreless. The visitor enjoyed the majority of possession in the early portion of the first half, but the Fightin' Quakers earned a throw-in deep in Mount Union territory in the 26th minute. Brady Shapiro hurled one of his signature long throw-ins into the box, and after the ball pinballed around, Casey Miller wound up and delivered a low strike with his left foot that beat Mount Union goalkeeper Tyler Venti to the near side.
Each team would take just a single shot in the final 20 minutes of the half – a Ryan Sarkisian shot wide left and an Elorm Dogbey header that was saved. The visitors held a 6-4 edge in shots in the first 45 minutes, but it was the hosts that went to the locker room up 1-0.
In the second half, Wilmington was held six five shots, none of which were on goal, while Mount Union fired 11 shots. The Purple Raiders finally broke through in the 85th minute when Omar Najjar sent a cross into the box that found the foot of Rylan Wickle, who buried a low shot past Felix Maurer to tie the game.
Determined not to end in a 1-1 tie after scoring the first goal like they did at Heidelberg University last Saturday, the Quakers switched formations heading into overtime. It paid off as Michael Owusu slipped through the "Purple Wall" and into the box. The senior fed a ball back across the grain, and a fellow senior, Yusef Muqtadir, buried the game-winner.
Maurer made seven saves to earn the win while Venti had two saves and allowed two goals in the loss. Grant Murray and Muqtadir both took three shots for Wilmington while Wikle fired eight of Mount Union's 17 shots.
Wilmington heads to Ohio Northern University on Wednesday.
