Blazer Men Stun Wesley in OT, Move Into Fourth Place in CAC
FREDERICK, Md.--Junior Chris Mendez scored his team-leading eighth goal of the season with 2:40 left in the first overtime period to propel the Hood College men's soccer team (6-5, 2-2 CAC) to a thrilling 3-2 Capital Athletic Conference victory over the Wesley College Wolverines (4-8-1, 1-3 CAC) Saturday on Senior Day at Thomas Athletic Field.
The Blazers, who defeated the Wolverines for the first time in four all-time meetings, won their fourth straight game and vaulted into fourth place in the CAC standings.
Despite being outshot 32-16 on the afternoon, Hood got a solid goaltending effort from sophomore Will Lane, who rejected a season-high 13 attempts, including a pair in overtime.
The Blazers drew first blood in the 18th minute when Mendez crossed a ball to first-year Eric Diehl, who notched his third goal of the season. The lead was shortlived however as the Wolverines countered just 1:27 later. Matt Nimmerichter booted a corner kick into the box where Kyle Long was waiting to head in the equalizer.
The Wolverines then capitalized on a Blazer defensive miscue in the 26th minute. Lane punched out Will Sutton's attempt in the 26th minute but the ball squirted away from the Hood keeper and deflected off the leg of a Blazer defender and into the net. The Blazers trailed 2-1 at halftime.
Just 1:23 into the second half, junior Doug Raftery collected a loose ball and found himself open in the box. He alertly booted a shot on target and posted his second score of the fall to knot the game at 2-2. Hood continued to apply pressure on the offensive end, firing off 10 shots compared to just four in the first stanza.
Lane came up with two more clutch stops in the final four minutes of regulation, and the Blazers found themselves headed for their third overtime battle of the season.
With less than three minutes left in the first overtime period, sophomore Jaime Ramirez sent a direct kick toward the near post and Mendez was there to knock it past Wolverine keeper Nick Talarico for the golden goal, his third game-winner of the season. The assist was the eighth of the year for Ramirez, who currently leads the CAC in that category and ranks sixth in all of NCAA Division III.
The Blazers have now defeated two CAC rivals for the first time since joining the conference in 2006 and trail only York College (Pa.) (4-0), University of Mary Washington (2-0-1) and Salisbury University (4-1). Hood next travels to St. Mary's College (Md.) Wednesday for a 4 p.m. CAC tilt. The Seahawks (1-3) are currently in a three-way tie for seventh place in the league.
