By: The Blueboys rallied out of a deficit on three occasions in the match before Andrew Matheney’s 88th minute winner.
Box Score WAUKESHA, Wis. — In a match with far-reaching consequences in the Midwest Conference, the Illinois College men's soccer team came from behind on three separate occasions before ultimately scoring the game-winning goal on an 88th minute header from
Andrew Matheney to secure a dramatic 4-3 win over Carroll University on Saturday. With the win, the Blueboys move to 9-5-2 (5-2-1 MWC) and enter into a three-way tie with Carroll and Monmouth for third place in the conference standings and a potential spot in the upcoming MWC Tournament.
The Blueboys had their work cut out for them from the beginning when Carroll scored their first goal only 2:32 into the game. IC refused to let Carroll's early goal affect their commitment, as junior
Joe Tooley evened the score in the 25th minute. Minutse later, a goal from Carroll's Dan Czernicki in the 31st minute pushed Carroll back in the lead. The Blueboys again showed resiliency when
Ben Cochran scored his eighth goal of the season with an assist from
Jordan Nelson to even the score at the end of the first half.
Coming out of the break, Carroll wasted little time at the start of the second half, scoring a goal only four minutes in. A confident Tooley then showed his nose for goal when he leveled the score in the 55th minute. IC and Carroll continued to duke it out until a header from Matheney in the 88th minute edged the Blueboys ahead of the Pioneers for the first time.
"In a word, AMAZING. But, in the end it was a good conference back and forth battle," stated Illinois College head men's soccer coach
Tyler Sheikh. "We showed a real mental fortitude that allowed us to come from behind three times and grab the game winner at the death. They proved what Blueboys Soccer is about: TEAM and DESIRE. We have the current top team in conference next so we'll be prepared."
On Wednesday, the Blueboys travel to Galesburg, Ill. to take on Knox. The Prairie Fire secured their first MWC regular season title since 1998 on Saturday. The game is set to kick off at 1:30 p.m.
