HOUGHTON, N.Y. (8-26-2011) - The Mount
Vernon Nazarene University men's soccer team
earned a dramatic 1-0 overtime victory at
Houghton (N.Y.) College in the Cougars'
season opener on Friday night when senior
forward Chris Allen found the back of the
net with just over a minute left in the
first extra session of the non-conference
match.
Unveiling
a new system and style of play for the first
time under new head coach Andrew Belleman,
MVNU (1-0) did a nice job of pushing the
attack throughout the match as the Cougars
kept the pressure on the Highlanders (0-1)
back line all evening. MVNU finished the
match with a 17-10 advantage in total shots
and an overwhelming 13-0 margin in corner
kicks. However, the Cougars just could not
find the back of the net.
After a
scoreless 90 minutes of regulation, the
match moved into a 10-minute sudden victory
overtime period. Then, in the 98th minute,
junior forward Brian Petak beat the defense
and slipped a pass into the front of the
goal. Allen
(left) was in the right place
at the right time and scored the golden goal for the exciting
1-0 victory. The goal was the 24th of his
career and his 10th game-winning goal.
"This was a really nice win for us,"
said Belleman, who picked up the victory in
his first match as a collegiate head coach
and against a team that received votes in
the NAIA preseason poll and had beaten MVNU
twice last year. "The guys worked really
hard and it showed them that our new system
works. I told them afterwards that we
definitely played well enough and deserved
to win this match, but that doesn't always
happen in the game of soccer. It was great
for them to be rewarded with the victory."
Sophomore goalkeeper Ryan Swartzentruber
earned the shutout in goal for the Cougars
as he stopped all three shots on goal
against him. It was his second career
shutout in only his third career start.
Steve Zacchinga stopped seven shots for Houghton.
MVNU will not have much time to enjoy
the victory, though, as the Cougars will
head to Roberts Wesleyan (N.Y.) College for
a 4 p.m. non-conference match on Saturday.
The two teams battled to a pair of double
overtime draws a year ago. The Raiders (0-1)
are coming off a 3-2 overtime loss to
Indiana Wesleyan University on Friday.
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Unveiling
a new system and style of play for the first
time under new head coach Andrew Belleman,
MVNU (1-0) did a nice job of pushing the
attack throughout the match as the Cougars
kept the pressure on the Highlanders (0-1)
back line all evening. MVNU finished the
match with a 17-10 advantage in total shots
and an overwhelming 13-0 margin in corner
kicks. However, the Cougars just could not
find the back of the net.