 |
||||||
|
||||||
|
Andre Akpan scored the winning goal for the Crimson Saturday. (Harvard Athletics) |
“In a situation like this, it was going to take something dramatic to win the game,” said Harvard Jamie Clark. “Andre made a good play with the ball on the right side and had a great effort to get it in the net.”
UMass (10-8-3) almost scored its own golden goal in the opening seconds of the second extra session when Chris Roswess battled through a cluster of Harvard defenders in front of the cage and put a shot that dribbled behind Crimson goalkeeper Austin Harms. The ball rolled towards the goal line, but Robert Millock made a game- and season-saving save, clearing it away from danger.
On the ensuing Crimson possession, John Stamatis moved the ball ahead to the right side, finding Akpan. The junior forward moved down the line, battling two defenders, and touched the ball with his foot trying a cross from a tough angle towards the left side. The ball headed towards the far side of the net over a leaping Zack Simmons and into the back of the cage for the game winner.
“Stamatis played a good ball up to me and I tried to go one-on-one with the defender,” Akpan said. “I went towards the box and tried a cross, but was lucky enough to get it just inside the far post.”
The Minutemen outshot the Crimson, 8-6, in the second half, and led, 15-11, in shots for regulation. UMass also had a strong advantage in corner kicks, earning seven of eight in the second. Neither team managed a shot in the first overtime, and each squad had one apiece in the second extra frame.
Harms finished the game with one save for his sixth shutout of the season, while Simmons made three stops. Harvard is now 19-14 all-time in the NCAA tournament and heads to the second round for the 10th time in program history.
Blink
Del.icio.us
Digg
Furl
Google
Simpy
Spurl
Technorati
Y! MyWeb
|
[?] Subscribe To This Site
|
Return to top