Addie Smith | Sports Editor
Junior defenseman Colin Phillips scored one of Duquesne’s four goals in an overtime thriller against St. Bonaventure Satuday evening at Rooney Field.
In front of a small but loud crowd, the Duquesne men’s soccer team pulled out a comeback win against the St. Bonaventure Bonnies 4-3 in overtime on Saturday night at Rooney Field.
The game featured chilled winds, a slight drizzle and a goal from junior forward Austin Lange with 19 seconds remaining on the clock to force overtime. Senior forward Simon Gomez put his stamp on the game three minutes into overtime with a pass to junior forward Kadeem Pantophlet in the box for the game winning goal.
Leading up to Lange’s goal, St. Bonaventure forward Emmett O’Conner was ejected after earning his second yellow card of the evening in a game featured nine yellow cards and one ejection in total. St. Bonaventure notched the first booking in the match six minutes in for bad behavior on the sidelines.
Heading into overtime, Pantophlet said the team was just looking to get the win. And they did pretty quickly.
“They already had 10 guys after they got the red card in the second half and I felt we were just pounding them,” Pantophlet said. “I told the guys ‘just keep pumping the ball forward and things are going to happen.’”
Prior to the Dukes’ comeback, they lost their 2-1 lead after St. Bonaventure scored on a direct kick and a penalty kick two minutes apart in the final 16 minutes of the game.
“I’d say right after the penalty kick [the momentum switched in our favor] because we thought that it was nonsense that it got called,” Pantophlet said. “But then, obviously, you have to get back what you have to get. I think it was right there and then that we started getting those little chances. Austin scored a great goal in literally the last second, and that’s soccer you know? The game just picked up.”
The Bonnies scored their first goal in the eighth minute of the game, placing the ball in the lower right corner of the net and narrowly getting it past sophomore goalie Sam Frymier. The game remained 1-0 for 30 more minutes, until junior defenseman Colin Phillips headed a direct kick from sophomore defender Thomas de Villardi.
The Dukes’ momentum from their goal carried into the second half when junior midfielder Filip Velasevic scored a quick goal only 49 seconds into the half.
Head coach Chase Brooks explained that the Red & Blue’s mindset going into overtime was just to continue doing what they had done all game.
“We had all the momentum, up a man, and it was just about pushing forward,” Brooks said. “We had to go for the win. We kept the formation as such and then warranted attacking football and went after it. That’s really all it was about, believing in what we’re trying to do and getting after it.”
The Dukes next play at Dayton on Friday evening.
