One Win, Four Draws for HL Men's Soccer Teams on Friday Night

Friday, September 6 Results
Oakland 1, Valparaiso 1 (2ot)
Wright State 3, Marshall 2 (ot)
Detroit 1, Cornell 1 (2ot)
Milwaukee 1, Drake 1 (2ot)
DePaul 3, UIC 1

Oakland 1, Valparaiso 1
Typical of Horizon League games, this was a highly competitive, physical, and skillful contest.  The game ended in a hard fought 1-1 draw, with Charles Barden scoring the lone Crusader goal and Matt Rickard scoring the lone Golden Grizzly goal.

This was a great battle between two teams that have had a very good rivalry over the years dating back to the Mid-Continent days," said coach Eric Pogue. "Credit to Valparaiso as they are a really tough team and made it very difficult to get behind them so we had to resort to getting on the end of a set piece to even the game up."

Rickard scored off of a free kick from Jacob VanderLaan as his header hit the bottom of the crossbar but had enough momentum to cross the goal line and give OU the tie to send it into extra time. In the second overtime, Valpo's Nick Suker took a shot off a loose ball from close range but Sean Lewis reacted quickly and made a tough save to seal the draw for Oakland.

The Crusaders would get on the board first in the 58th minute as Charles Barden would find the net as he took a shot close while he was close to the goal line that deflected off an OU defender and was able to get by Lewis. In the 73rd minute, John DeLeon had a chance to score as he took a cross to the far post and made a sliding effort but could not get a touch.

“I thought it was a good performance by us tonight - it was very professional and determined,” said Valpo head coach Mike Avery.  “We knew that with this being the first Horizon League game in any sport for Oakland’s history, we were going to have to deal with a lot of energy and a wave of emotion; especially at the start of the game.  So we knew we were going to have to sit in a little bit and absorb some pressure and really just work at keeping them out of the penalty box.  In that regard, I thought we were fantastic in the first half.”

Lewis would finish the match with two saves, while Valpo's Tom Serratore finished with three saves. The Golden Grizzlies ended with a 14-5 shot advantage included four shots during the extra periods.

Wright State 3, Marshall 2 (ot)
A golden goal by Brett Elder 2:56 into the first overtime gave the Wright State men's soccer team a 3-2 win over Marshall in the season opener Friday night at Alumni Field.

The Raiders opened the scoring just 14:12 into the contest as freshman forward Eric Lynch recorded his first collegiate goal as he received a fast-break pass from junior midfielder Chris DuPont and drove past the Marshall goalkeeper.

The Thundering Herd tied it at the 56:37 mark of the second half, only to see WSU go back in front at the 84:24 mark as sophomore midfielder Wesley Cain posted his first goal as a Raider, heading in a free kick from junior defender Gustav Svensson.

Marshall used a free kick of its own to tie with just 1:11 remaining in regulation, setting the stage for the Elder goal in overtime as the sophomore forward took a pass from DuPont on the left side and drove to the right middle of the goal for the game-winner.

The Thundering Herd led 23-17 in shots, but Raider junior goalkeeper Craig Feehan had seven saves.

Detroit 1, Cornell 1
The University of Detroit Mercy men's soccer team finished with a 1-1 draw Friday night against Cornell in the 38th Annual Mayor's Cup at Hartwick College.

Cornell (0-0-1) came into the game looking to get shots up early, and that was evident as the Big Red put up four early shots in the first 15 minutes of the match. As Cornell was being the aggressor, the Titans were still managing to keep Cornell tamed until the Big Red found a crease in the back side of the Titan defense as Stephen Reisert sent a cross, and found a sliding Devin Morgan to put Cornell ahead 1-0 in the 29th minute.

The goal was the first goal given up by Detroit (0-0-2) in the 2013 season, and the first goal given up by the Titans in 127 minutes of play.

It took some time for the Titans to muster up some type of offense, so UDM captain Adam Bedell decided to take initiative. The senior's aggressiveness led to a foul by Cornell, which set up a set piece in the 35th minute. Kevin Pinkos set the ball into the box beautifully, and Trevor Flynn finished it off to score Detroit's first goal of the 2013 season, and knot the match up at one as it would remain tied leading into halftime.

UDM looked to take their first lead of the season, but an early shot out of the locker room from Bedell sailed just right of the post.

Shortly after, the Big Red was able to get a series of corners and nearly regained the lead, but some last second teamwork by the Titans kept the score stagnant. At the 30-minute mark, Cornell held a 6-1 advantage in the shot column. Neither team could put together a solid attempt on goal, and the Titans headed into their second overtime in as many games.

Cornell continued to outshoot the Titans in the first overtime but senior goalkeeper Nathan Steinwascher continued his incredible play in the net for UDM.

In the second overtime play was slow until the final minutes, when a header for Cornell stayed right and the match ended in a 1-1 draw.

Milwaukee 1, Drake 1
Drake University goalkeeper Rich Gallagher made a diving stop on a final attempt from junior Laurie Bell in double-overtime to close out a 1-1 tie against the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee men's soccer team Friday night at Engelmann Stadium.

The Panthers (1-0-1) had a final late attempt against the Bulldogs (0-2-1) to try and record the victory, but Bell's shot with 12 seconds left on the clock was saved by the sprawling keeper to help Drake escape with the tie. The opportunity came following a long free kick by freshman goalie Liam Anderson, who nearly added an assist to go along with his four saves on the evening.

The contest was game one for Milwaukee in the 39th Panther Invitational. Marquette opened the event with a 3-0 victory over Bowling Green in the opener earlier Friday evening.

"I thought we had a fair amount of control after the first half," UWM head coach Kris Kelderman said. "We had a one-goal lead and we all know that in soccer, one hiccup or one lapse in the back and suddenly the game is tied. It's not good enough. We have to take advantage of our opportunities better than we did tonight. It's just being sharper in the final third - that's the hardest part about soccer, scoring goals. It's just that final pass, that final shot."

UWM had numerous chances to win it in the overtime sessions but could not get enough of its chances on target. On the night, the Panthers outshot their opponents 18-to-12, including 4-to-2 in the extra periods.

"I am not thrilled about the result and our guys are not either," Kelderman said. "And I do not expect them to be. I thought the possession for the majority of the game was in our favor and I thought we played pretty well the majority of the time. I am not pleased with how we took our chances. I am not pleased with the number of chances we failed to create in the attacking third. And that is something that we know we need to work on and get better at. We have seven new starters from last year and I did not expect this to happen overnight. Guys are trying to gel and we have areas that need improvement that we are working on."

Junior Kyle Neumann had a chance in the 107th minute, pushing an attempt just left after a nice feed from junior Rami Younes. Junior Luke Goodnetter took a 25-yard free kick in the 106th, but his attempt was high. It was Bell again in the 94th minute, barely missing the golden goal after a cross into the box by senior Robbie Boyd.

Bell did give UWM a 1-0 lead before intermission, netting his first goal of the campaign at the 39:31 mark. Freshman Junior Juarez started the scoring play with a throw-in, which was sent forward by Neumann into the corner of the box. That pass found Boyd, who played it to Bell, who calmly sent it to the far post for a 1-0 lead.

The Bulldogs would stick around and eventually caught a bit of a break to net the equalizer. Following a blocked shot in the penalty area, the deflection went right to Garrett Crall, who buried the finish to make it 1-1 at the 65:49 mark.

Bell ended with a team-high seven shots, creating decent scoring opportunities all night. A 76th-minute header looked on target but narrowly missed, as did a blast from the top of the 18 in the 24th minute. Boyd recorded five shots of his own, testing the keeper on a rocket from the right wing in the 73rd minute and also with a long attempt early on in the eighth minute.

DePaul 3, UIC 1
The UIC men's soccer team was put to the test Friday night at Flames Field, as it took on city-rival DePaul.  The Flames battled from the start and went into the half with a 1-1 tie, but were unable to answer back to the Blue Demons two goals in the second and ultimately fell 3-1.

The loss drops the Flames to 0-2-0 this season, while the win for DePaul marks its first of the season to go to 1-2-0.

The Blue Demons came in with a quick tally to take a 1-0 lead after just 2:55 passed in the first, when Jalen Harvey knocked in a header. The Flames were given their chances and responded in the 20th minute when sophomore Kyle Lindberg scored the lone goal of the game and the first of the season for UIC off a pass from senior Bob Novak

The physicality continued into the second with DePaul collecting a total of 24 fouls in the match against UIC's 12, while a total of nine yellow cards and one red card were handed out between the two teams.  DePaul's Joe Brinckwirth and Pat Flynn went on to score the two remaining goals of the game, despite the Flames holding a 15-6 shots advantage.

"We have to find a way to get that intensity and that intangible that we had against Wisconsin and had, for moments, against Santa Barbara back into this team."