XML Box Score Oneonta, NY – A battle of two top-25 teams did not disappoint on Friday, as No. 1 Messiah College earned a thrilling, 2-1 overtime win over No. 24 Oneonta State University in the Red Dragons' Mayor's Cup Tournament.
Joshua Wood provided the game-winner in the 93rd minute with a header off a serve from the left wing by
Jack Thompson. Wood's redirection came from just six yards out in front of the goal, with keeper Daniel DeBottis unable to react quickly enough to stop the ball from sailing past his right shoulder.
The victory moves Messiah to 3-0 on the young season, with Oneonta State falling to 1-1. Both teams will turn around quickly, with the Falcons squaring off with Claremont-Mudd-Scrips at 1:00 on Saturday. Oneonta State will follow at 4:00 against Franklin & Marshall at 4:00.
The Red Dragons came out with an aggressive attack on the Falcons on Friday, with forward Dylan Williams sitting for much of game on Messiah's back row. With his teammates continually pushing possession forward, Williams came close to notching a goal on more than a few occasions, including his hard strike from 23 yards out in the 10th minute that required a diving save by
Brandon West.
Two of Williams' other dangerous shots came in a six-minute span midway through the first-half. The first was a header on the six yard line that went just over the cross bar; the other was a quick hit a on a chip into the box that also sailed just over West's reach and over the goal.
With Oneonta opening up the field, Messiah also found opportunities to push forward.
Jeremy Payne almost gave the Falcons an early lead of their own in 16th minute after Kovach attacked along the right end line and dropped a pass back to Payne on the right side of the box. His quick shot from 15 yards out was saved by DeBottis in the air, preserving the 0-0 score.
After entering the break scoreless, Oneonta seemed poised to take a sudden lead in the 46th minute before
Josh Kremers and
Matt Kyne each earned clean tackles in the box in a span of a few seconds.
After just 14 minutes of play in the second-half, Messiah finally broke the stalemate in the 59th minute after
Jeremy Payne found space to push through the left side of the midfield. Payne carried the possession to the top of the 18-yard line before moving the ball parallel to
Brian Ramirez at the top of box. Ramirez touched right and quickly dropping the ball to Kovach inside the 18 on the right side. His quick cut to the goal brought DeBottis off his line where he managed to deflect—but not stop—Kovach's hard strike.
Less than five minutes later, Alex Winiarski almost tied the game for Oneonta, with the Red Dragons pushing upfield against the run of play for a four-on-two advantage. Winiarski was slotted possession on the left side but saw his shot go across the ground and wide right of the goal.
Though a miss, it was a sign of things to come as Oneonta tied the game at 1-1 in the 69th minute. At that time the Red Dragons again pushed into the Falcons' box, where both teams battled for touches on the right side. Williams managed to gain control and move the ball across the box to the left where Winiarski drilled the ball low and past West's dive.
With both teams competing hard for an edge, the second-half clock continued to count. Messiah came inches away from taking a lead in the 88th minute when Payne's shot from eight yards out in front of the goal was blocked by Dragons' defense before being grabbed on the line by DeBottis. The Falcons almost took the lead again with under thirty seconds to play when
Jack Thompson's serve from the left side went near post to
Joshua Wood who was stripped of the ball before being able to get a shot off.
But, as (over)time would tell, Wood had one more shot coming. His header at the 2:15 mark of the extra session sent his teammates running onto the field in celebration.
Messiah outshot Oneonta 11 to seven, and doubled their corner kicks with 10 attempts. Five yellow cards were handed out in the physical affair, one each to Messiah's
Mike Kovach and
Josh Kremers. Zachary Southworth, Sean Vinberg, and Jared Van Brunt earned the cautions for Oneonta.
