Men's Soccer Rallies to Force Tie with Oregon State
9/13/2009 10:25:00 PM | Men's Soccer
SPOKANE, Wash. - Georgia Southern (0-4-1) rallied from a two-goal deficit late in the second half to tie the finale of the Gonzaga/Nike Soccer Classic against Oregon State (3-0-2) 2-2. The Eagles held on in two overtimes against the #6 ranked team in the Far West Region to record the tie.
Jon Cox (Alpharetta, Ga.) and Danny Hall (Conyers, Ga.) scored Georgia Southern's two goals within minutes of each other in the second half. Hall recorded the first goal off a penalty kick in the 78th minute. Cox tied the match at the 79:50 mark off a pass from David Leonard (Augusta, Ga.).
The Eagles out-shot the Beavers 15-12 and recorded six shots on goal to Oregon State's four.
Cox started the match with a shot from the top of the penalty box that sailed right of the net in the first minute.
The Beavers recorded a pair of corner kicks in the 2nd minute. The second corner kick led to their first shot on goal. Mike Gubosh (Evans, Ga.) made the save on Colin Mitchell's long header. Gubosh made his first start of the season and recorded two saves in 110 minutes.
Mitchell came right back with another shot attempt in the 7th minute but hit the post from 18 yards out.
Oregon State went down a man in the 8th minute when Chris Miller was red carded on a breakaway by Rich Heyer (Tupelo, Miss.). Matt Crowell (St. Augustine, Fla.) took the ensuing free kick from 20 yards out but hit the Beavers' wall.
Oregon State recorded their first goal in the 28th minute. Mitchell scored on his third shot attempt off a long pass from Jake Parker.
The Eagles controlled the ball in the final 15 minutes of the first half. Crowell took Georgia Southern's second corner of the half at the 33:33 mark. Crowell took another shot from 30 yards out, but it sailed high. Aleksandar Tomic (Sydney, Australia) took his first shot in the 40th minute but missed to the left of the net. Witt Carlisle (Alpharetta, Ga.) put a shot on target at the 41:49 mark. Carlisle's shot forced the goalkeeper to make a diving save to his right.
The Eagles recorded a pair of corner kicks in the 58th minute.
Matt Starks (Cumming, Ga.) recorded a shot on goal in the 61st minute, but Steve Spangler came up with the save. Three minute later, Hall launched a free kick from 18 yards out that forced Spangler to make another save.
The Beavers went back on the attack in the 66th minute and got their second goal off a free kick from Danny Mwanga. Mwanga's shot went over the wall and into the right side of the net.
Hall was fouled in the 78th minute and was awarded the Eagle's first penalty kick of the season. Hall placed it in the back of the net for his second goal of the season.
Less than two minutes later, Cox tied the match with a goal in the 80th minute. Joe Madigan (Centennial, Colo.) crossed the ball to Leonard, who set up Cox from 16 yards out.
Cox recorded his second shot on goal minutes later with a hard shot from 10 yards out. Spangler came up with a chest high save to deny the Eagles their first lead of the match.
The first overtime period saw only one shot, and the game proceeded to the second overtime. Georgia Southern recorded a pair of shots in the second overtime period but were unable to score the winning goal. Crowell launched a high shot from 30 yards out that went over the net in the 106th minute. Tomic recorded his third shot at the 108:50 mark but missed high.
The Eagles return to action next Sunday with a match against Mercer at 5 p.m.
