September 24, 2013
Grove City falls to Heidelberg on golden goal
GROVE CITY, Ohio -- The Grove City College men's soccer team dropped a heartbreaking 2-1 overtime decision to non-conference opponent Heidelberg on Tuesday afternoon at College Field.
The Student Princes' Hamid Shariff scored the game-winner for the second year in a row against the Wolverines in the 93rd minute.
Heidelberg controlled play early in the first half, taking a 1-0 lead in the 13th minute when Ryan Homoki intercepted a pass and ripped a shot past Wolverine goalkeeper Ben Weaver (York, Pa./Dallastown).
A Grove City surge late in the half saw a pair of freshmen connect, as David Wurmlinger (Belle Vernon, Pa./Belle Vernon) slotted a ball through to Stephen Betteridge (Pittsford, N.Y./Pittsford Mendon) to even the score in the 37th minute.
The goal was the first of Betteridge's collegiate career while Wurmlinger notched his first collegiate assist.
The Wolverines continued to control play in the second half, holding a 9-2 advantage in total shots and posting four shots on goal.
Grove City had several great looks to end the game in regulation, perhaps none better than a three-shot sequence by Justin Phillips from close range in the 87th minute. However, Heidelberg goalkeeper Matthew Stevens came up with two big saves before Phillips' third shot rolled wide.
In the extra frame, Chris Koczak served the ball in toward goal, and Shariff got just enough of a header-touch on the ball to edge it past Weaver's reach for the game-winner.
For the Wolverines, it was the fifth overtime match in eight outings this year. Dating back to last season, eight of the Wolverines' last 13 maches have gone beyond regulation.
Grove City returns to action on Saturday when they travel to #10/18 Carnegie Mellon for a 4:30 pm contest.