Drexel University
Northeastern
Crosse Heads Home Golden Goal For Dragons In Double Overtime Against Northeastern
10/22/2008 7:29:09 PM | Men's Soccer
Philadelphia – Mike Crosse provided a dramatic game-winning header with 47 seconds left in the second overtime to give Drexel (6-4-4, 4-1-2) a key 2-1 victory over Northeastern (5-3-6, 3-1-3). With time winding down in the match, Carlos Ruthner lifted a cross to the right side of the box. Crosse hurled himself into the air and connected with a strong header that hit the back of the net on the right side of the goal for the Dragons' third overtime victory of the season. Ruthner scored the Dragons' first goal of the match in the 27th minute. The win moves Drexel into sole possession of second place in the CAA standings.
Northeastern outshot Drexel 20-17 and held a vast margin in corner-kick opportunities, 12-3, but the Dragons defense held strong for the majority of the match. Keeper Cory Robertson made six saves in just over 109 minutes of work. For the Huskies, Scott Partridge made four stops.
Ruthner gave the Dragons a 1-0 lead in the 27th minute. Max Crockett carried the ball into the right side of the goal box and lifted a cross to a wide-open Leland Raum who was sprinting in from the left side. Raum settled the ball while wresting it away from an approaching defender while pushing it to the middle to set up Ruthner. The senior blasted a shot on goal that was saved by the keeper Scott Partridge, but he quickly cleaned up the rebound with a shot that trickled into the goal through despite efforts from the keeper and a defender to turn it aside.
Playing with the win at their backs in the second half, the Huskies put the Dragons under pressure to preserve its lead. Northeastern earned seven corner kicks, including a series of four straight that were dispersed by the Dragons. A shot by Ryan Burnham ricocheted off the post with 15 minutes left in the period and Robertson made two stops in the period.
Northeastern finally broke through with and equalizing goal in the 12th minute. Matthew Laning and Santiago Bedoya keyed a three-man break for the Huskies with Mike Kennedy taking the final feed in the box. But Kennedy was quickly taken down by the Drexel defense, cueing a penalty kick. Alexander Volk deposited the kick with a looping chip over a diving Robertson to square the match.
Robertson made one final save on a blast from Petur Vidarsson with just seconds left in regulation to send Drexel into its eighth overtime match of the season.
In the first extra stanza Northeastern went on the attack early. A cross from the left side of the box found a wide-open Mike Kennedy on the left side of the box. Kennedy sliced a liner that found its way all the way across the mouth of the goal without meeting a foot to direct it in. With just under four minutes left in overtime, Matthew Laning fronted a break. Robertson came out of the box to challenge him, but Laning won the battle and appeared to have an unabated look at the net from 20 yards out. But Bryan Ruff charged in as Laning prepared his shot, and divested him of the ball before he could release the immanent golden goal.
A shot by Brandon Fischer went just wide of the goal as time expired on the first overtime, sending the match into a second additional period and setting up the Dragons' thrilling double-overtime victory.
Four of the Dragons' last five matches have been overtime affairs. Drexel has played eight extra-stanza contests on the season and now boasts a record of 3-1-4 in overtime affairs. Crosse's goal was his fourth of the season, he is now tied for the team lead in goals and points.
Drexel is back in action this weekend when the Dragons travel to play James Madison on Saturday, Oct. 25. Kickoff is slated for 7:00 p.m. in Harrisonburg, Va.
Drexel 1 0 0 1 - 2
N'eastern 0 1 0 0 - 1
Scoring Summary
26:12 DU Ruthner (Raum)
78:29 NU Volk (penalty kick)
109:13 DU Crosse (Ruthner)
Shots: NU 20, DU 17
Corners: NU 12, DU 3
Fouls: NU 12, DU 10
Saves: Robertson (Drexel) 6, Partridge (Northeastern) 4
Cards: Vidarsson (NU) 22:48, yellow; Kennedy (NU) 23:41, yellow; Ennis (NU) 40:00, yellow; Northeastern Bench 100:00, yellow
