Bison Men’s Soccer Victorious in Overtime
Sept. 24 – BETHANY, W. Va. – The Bethany College men's soccer team remained undefeated at home with a 3-2 overtime victory over Muskingum on Thursday afternoon. The Bison are 4-0-1 in Bethany this season.
The Green & White (4-4-1) found themselves with an early 1-0 deficit after Muskingum (2-5) converted on a corner kick in the 9th minute. Barrett Fitzgerald recorded the score after he headed in a pass from teammate David Gebhardt.
The Fighting Muskies capitalized on another opportunity in the 27th minute and took a 2-0 advantage in the contest.
The Bison remained calm and finally cut the Muskies lead to just one after Frederik Thomsen (Skive, Denmark/Skive) beat Muskingum goaltender Gabe Kral in the 40th minute. The score remained 2-1 at the intermission.
Bethany looked rejuvenated in the second half as the Bison offensive attack started to put the pressure on the Muskies' defense. Their aggressive play was finally rewarded in the 86th minute after a handball in the box gave Bethany a penalty kick.
Junior Jack Waters (Epsom, United Kingdom/Glyn School) received the nod from head coach Sean Regan and the Bison captain converted, tying the game at two with his team-high seventh goal of the season.
The game remained tied at the end of the second period and the Bison headed for their third overtime of the season. Bethany was 1-0-1 in prior overtime contests.
The extra period belonged to the Bison from the start as they kept the ball on the Muskies' side of the field nearly the entire frame. After Kral turned away three Bison shots in the first five minutes, sophomore Cody Levine (Washington, Pa./Bentworth) fired a shot into the back of the net for the 3-2 win. Levine was coming off a hat-trick performance in the previous game.
Both Bethany and Muskingum recorded 19 shots in the contest. Bison goaltender Callum Appleby (Maidstone, United Kingdom/Maidstone) earned the win in the match as he totaled nine saves.
Waters led the Bison offensively as he tallied eight shots. Freshman Jay O' Donnell (Cardiff, Wales/Radyr Comprehensive) and Thomsen finished with three shots as well.
Bethany College will return to the pitch as they take on Marietta on Wednesday, September 30 at 4:00 p.m.
