November 2, 2013
Grove City ties Thomas More on Senior Day
GROVE CITY, Pa. -- Freshman Dale Reese (Rocky Hill, Conn./Loomis Chaffee) scored the game-tying goal in the 82nd minute and sophomore Brenden Alfery (Pittsburgh, Pa./Central Catholic) came up big in goal as the Grove City College men's soccer team battled to a 1-1 tied with Thomas More on Senior Day at College Field Saturday afternoon.
Thomas More (14-2-1, 7-0-1 PAC) dominated much of the first half and took a 1-0 lead in the 24th minute when Brian Runyon's cross from the right-side endline bent just past Alfery into the goal.
The Saints continued to control play early in the second half, but the Wolverines (8-5-5, 4-1-3) stole the momentum midway through the second half and evened the score when sophomore Tim Shackleton (Malvern, Pa./Great Valley) dropped a pass back to Reese, who played a beautiful left-footed bending shot past Saints' keeper Matt Kees.
For Reese, it was his seventh goal of the season and PAC-leading sixth in conference play while Shackleton recorded his first assist.
Neither team could manage a goal in the remainder of regulation as Grove City went to overtime for an NCAA-record 10th time this season.
The Wolverines nearly ended the game just one minute into the overtime when freshman Stephen Betteridge (Pittsford, N.Y./Pittsford Mendon) directed a strong header to goal but Kees came up with the save.
From there, Alfery kept the tie intact, recording six of
his career-high 18 saves in the two overtime sessions, including a number in
acrobatic fashion. The 18 saves were the most made by a PAC goalkeeper in the
past two seasons.
Prior to the match, the Wolverines honored seniors Daniel Adams (The Woodlands, Texas/The Woodlands), Chris Burgan (North Huntingdon, Pa./Trinity Christian), Richie Kocur (Cranberry Township, Pa./Seneca Valley), Kyle Matherne (Camp Hill, Pa./Camp Hill) and Brian Wilkes (Richfield, Ohio/Cuyahoga Valley Christian) prior to the match. Those five have led Grove City to a 43-26-10 record over the past four seasons.
The Wolverines will be the No. 3 seed in the upcoming Presidents' Athletic Conference tournament and will travel to No. 2 seed Washington & Jefferson on Wednesday for a PAC semifinal match at a time not yet determined. Grove City and W&J battled to a 0-0 draw in Washington on October 19.