Box score
BANNER ELK, N.C. --- Lee Squires (Sheffield,
U.K.) scored a pair of goals, and provided the assist on the
match-winner with less than a minute remaining in the second
extra-time period to lead the Lees-McRae College men's soccer team
to a 3-2 overtime victory over Mount Olive College on Saturday
night at Tate Field.
Lees-McRae (4-2, 3-0 CC) dictated the flow of play for much of
the evening, outshooting the Trojans (1-4-1, 1-1 CC) by a 34-6
margin, including a 28-4 advantage over the final 65 minutes of
play. Squires outshot the Trojans by himself, tallying 10 attempts
on goal in the match, including five on target.
Squires found the back of the net twice in the match, and nearly
had a third when MOC keeper Brad Newman made a tremendous save on
Squires' penalty kick attempt in the 48th minute. Junior David
Palmer (Gateshead, U.K.) provided the match-winner for his second
goal of the season, while Squires, Sam Kennedy (East End, U.K.),
Luke Staats (Almere, Holland), Luke Perry (Cheshire, U.K.) and
Jamie Bladen (Yorkshire, U.K.) each added an assist for the
Bobcats.
Mount Olive's Matt Cargile (Jacksonville, N.C.) tallied a pair
of goals to lead the Trojan attack, while John Mendoza (Shallotte,
N.C.) added an assist.
Cargile opened the scoring in the early moments of the 23rd
minute, taking advantage of a giveaway by the Bobcat keeper and
banking a brilliant bending strike off the far post and into the
back of the net to give the Trojans an early 1-0 lead. Squires
would answer midway through the 28th minute, driving a cross from
Palmer into the upper 90 to knot the score at 1-1. Kennedy was also
credited with an assist on the equalizer.
Squires found the back of the net for the second time in the
match midway through the 50th minute, delivering a wonderful strike
into the back of the net after Staats sent on a free kick from
Bladen, putting the Bobcats ahead by a 2-1 score. Cargile would
pull the Trojans back on terms less than a minute later, heading
home the rebound after Mendoza's shot caromed off the crossbar to
even the match at 2-2.
Both teams would have several opportunities to net the winner
throughout the remainder of regulation time, with each keeper being
forced to make multiple tremendous saves to keep their respective
sides in the match.
Neither side could break the deadlock until the waning moments
of the second extra-time period, when Palmer delivered a fantastic
header into the far corner of the net off a cross from Squires,
earning the Bobcats the thrilling 3-2 extra-time victory with his
first career match-winner.
Lees-McRae returns to the pitch on Wednesday when the Bobcats
host Carson-Newman College at Tate Field. The match is scheduled to
kick off at 7 p.m.
- LMC -
