EMMITSBURG, Md. - Graduate student Steve Pathroff (North
Ridgeville, Ohio/St. Ignatius) scored with 17 seconds left in the
second overtime to propel Mount St. Mary's past Central Connecticut
State 2-1 in double overtime of a Northeast Conference (NEC) men's
soccer contest on Sunday.
With time running down in the final overtime period, the ball
was blocked back to Gary Phinith (Gaithersburg, Md./Magruder). Gary
Phinith found Pathroff open on the left side and the graduate
student buried a shot into the right netting to give the
Mountaineers its second-straight overtime victory. With the win,
the Mount (6-9-1, 5-3-1 NEC) remains in a tight race for the fourth
and final playoff spot.
Pathroff, who also had an assist in the 4-3 overtime thriller on
Friday, also dished out an assist on Sunday to go along with his
decisive tally. Chris Wheeler (Newcastle, Australia/St. Francis
Xavier) scored his seventh goal of the year and Chris Davis
(Townsville, Australia/Kirwan State) made three saves in the
winning effort.
Connor Smith scored the Blue Devils (6-9-1, 1-7-1 NEC) goal and
Chris Jones made three saves in the loss.
After a fast start with both teams scoring in the first five
minutes of the game, Mount St. Mary's broke the standstill in the
closing seconds of the second overtime to lead the Mount past
Central Connecticut State for the first time since the 2001
season.
Wheeler, who had the game-winner on Friday, handed Mount St.
Mary's a 1-0 advantage when he headed in a serve from Pathroff at
the 3:19 mark.
The Blue Devils answered right back 81 seconds later when Smith
registered his first marker of the year off a pass from Hadji
Diop.
Mount St. Mary's had a pair of chances to score before the end
of regulation. Wheeler had his shot saved in the 87th minute and
Alex Ockford (Yardley, Pa./Pennsbury) missed wide 37 seconds
later.
Eduardo Ortiz had the best scoring chance for Central
Connecticut State, but his shot grazed the cross bar in the 94th
minute. Ty Fenstermacher (Macungie, Pa./Emmaus) had his shot saved
for the Mountaineers with 11 seconds left in the first
overtime.
Smith had a shot that was high in the opening minute of the
final extra session before the Mount had an array of chances in a
10 second span. Scott Phinith (Gaithersburg, Md./Magruder) and Gary
Phinith each had shot blocked before Alex Graver (Palmerton,
Pa./Palmerton) missed wide in the 105th minute.
Jesse Menzies gave the Blue Devils their final shot and missed
wide in the 106th minute. Central Connecticut State also had
offensive momentum in the final two minutes, but Davis made a
sliding grab of the ball before the Blue Devils could get a shot
off to set up the heroics of Pathroff.
After play on Sunday, the Mount sits in fourth place with 16
points while Fairleigh Dickinson and Sacred Heart are right behind
Mount St. Mary's with 13 points. The Knights face St. Francis
(N.Y.) Monday night while the Pioneers defeated Long Island 2-1 in
overtime on Sunday.
Mount St. Mary's concludes the regular season at No. 14 Monmouth
on Friday. Game time is 3 p.m.
