APPLETON, Wis. – The Illinois College men's soccer team showed its resolve on Saturday, coming back to tie the match twice and force overtime at Lawrence University, only to fall on a golden goal in the second overtime, 3-2. The loss drops the Blueboys to 4-6-2 (0-1-0 Midwest Conference).
In a rather unremarkable first half, Lawrence was able to take a 1-0 lead on a 30-yard bomb from Jack Morrissey. Little happened outside of that, with no shots from the Blueboys and no other shots on target from the Vikings.
Things picked up significantly in the second half. Illinois College knotted the score in the 53rd minute with a solo effort from
Caleb Saldana. That tie lasted less than four minutes when Zach Currie put the Vikings back ahead off of a corner kick in the 56th minute. With time working against the Blueboys,
Bryan Hamilton scored an unassisted goal in the 81st minute to level the score a second time and force overtime.
In an exciting first overtime, Illinois College had shots from Hamilton and
Brady O'Connell saved by Hunter Lanton. On the other end,
Raul Rubalcava made two saves and a shot from Morrissey hit the post. Rubalcava had two more saves in the second overtime before Mark Todd was slipped a pass that put him one-on-one with Rubalcava and he was able to convert in the 103rd minute to bring the match to an end.
Rubalcava ended with eight saves on the day. Illinois College took 10 shots in total on the afternoon, with Hamilton and
Aaron House leading the team with two apiece.
Illinois College wraps up its road trip to Wisconsin tomorrow afternoon, facing Ripon College at 1:30 p.m.
