| OCU
Varsity Sports |
Oaks Second in Tourney OCU 2-1 Kentucky Wesleyan (OT)
Despite out-shooting their oponents by a margin of 22-11, the Mighty Oaks had to rely on a overtime penalty from Murray Aitken (Haddington, Scotland) to secure the win The Mighty Oaks started the game well with a period of consolidated possesion but without getting any clear looks at goal. A Wesleyan break down the right seemed to wake them up though and they went close from a succession of crosses before Gaius Snyder (Jeffersonville, IN) scored his first collegiate goal. Jan Weirum (Greve, Denmark) cut in on the right before finding Jason Morgan (Brampton, Ontario) who slid Snyder through on goal. Snyder clamly slipped it past the keeper from 15 yards. A combination of the Mighty Oaks relaxing and Wesleyan stepping up saw the visitors control the lion's share of possession. Good OCU defending restricted them to long range shots, however, and halftime came fairly uneventfully. The second half resumed much as the first ended, with the Mighty Oaks sitting back and Wesleyan pressing. The Mighty Oaks still seemed to have the greater cutting edge but couldn't seem to find the back of the net. The visiting keeper coming to their rescue when Brandon Gengelbach (Evanston, IN) was teed up by Adem Ali (London, England). With just under 20 minutes remaining the visitors got the break that they had been threatening when a through ball beat the OCU back line and the shot took a deflection past Scott Cliff (Sudbury, Ontario). This goal gave teh Mighty Oaks the injection of urgency that they needed and they went close numerous times in the final minutes. Adam Richardville (Vincennes, IN) had a venomous shot from the edge of the area well saved, beofre Ali and Weirum both failed to hit the target from far post crosses. Time wound down with the Mighty Oaks cursing their wayward finishing, but they didn't have to wait long to make amends. With just 5 minutes on the clock, Daniel Armstrong (Evansville, IN) was brought down in the area and Aitken calmly slotted home from 12 yards. "I was very disappointed with the team today" Said Coach Botterill "We created plenty of chances when we plyed with intensity but we were too quick to relax once we went a goal up. We need to learn to kill the game off early when we can." |
