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Box Score
Mankato, Minn. – After playing to a 0-0 tie just four days ago, the Minnesota, Morris and Bethany Lutheran men's soccer teams opened up the offenses today (Nov. 2), combining for five goals with the Cougars getting the game-winner in overtime to advance to the UMAC Tournament Championship game.
“It was pretty tight all game,” head coach Scott Turnbull said after the match. “The play today was fast and physical all game, this is a smaller field than were used to, so it was pretty congested out there. But, we were able to pull it together today, after not playing our best down the stretch.”
The Cougars were coming off run where they went winless in their last three matches, their longest such stretch of the season. They broke out of that funk in a big way today, however.
All knotted up at 2-2 in the extra session, a yellow card was called on the host Vikings, giving the Cougars a penalty kick just over two minutes into overtime. From there Greg Borchers (Westminster, Colo.) did the rest, nailing the kick for the game-winning goal.
“Greg had the ball inside the box, and got knocked down,” Turnbull said. “From there he just finished it off, it was pretty wild at the end.”
The Cougars got on the board first, and took a 1-0 lead into the break. Toby Glaser (Colorado Springs, Colo.) scored late in the first half to give the Cougars the early lead.
Then in the second half, things got a little crazy as a two-minute span produced three goals and the 2-2 tie that the two teams would carry past regulation.
Still tied 13-minutes into the second, the Vikings got their first goal to tie it up at 1-1. From there the Cougars took the kickoff and went right down to score again, taking the lead back just over a minute later. Matt Johnson (Monument, Colo.) took a ball that Borchers had played up the flank and then passed it off to Matt Vik (St. Paul, Minn.) who finished it.
However, just 30 seconds later Bethany Lutheran again scored to tie it back up at 2-2.
“It was tight all game and that was a wild two minutes with three goals,” Turnbull added. “Things slowed down after that and the scoring chances were pretty thin the rest of the way. We continued to play well, but just weren't able to get the opportunities.”
Neither team was able to find the net again in regulation, but it wasn't for lack of trying as they combined for 12 shots in the final 30 minutes.
The Cougars improve to 10-6-4 on the season, and will move on to face St. Scholastica in Duluth in the UMAC Championship game on Saturday, Nov. 6. This will mark the fourth straight season that the two teams have met in the conference title game and will be the fourth meeting of the two teams in the last four seasons.
The Cougars hold a 2-to-1 edge over the Saints in UMAC Championship games, but lost for the first time last season in a match that went to a shootout. Always close when the two teams match-up, last season's game went to the 15th shooter before the Saints won it 8-7.
“No one is surprised to see St. Scholastica over there on the other side again,” Turnbull said in closing. “It will be the fourth straight year, but we're definitely looking forward to playing them.”
