Tiffin, Ohio – The Oberlin College men's soccer team was unable to capture its first win of the season, falling 3-2 in overtime at Heidelberg University on Tuesday night.
Despite triggering more shots in the match, the Yeomen continued to struggle finishing during the run of play as their lone free-flowing goal of the match came late in fulltime. Oberlin ended with 16-14 advantage in shots, including a 9-8 edge in shots on goal.
After
Trenton Bulucea's second goal of the match and 11
th of his career to tie it at 2-2 in the 85
th minute, the Berg would go on to win it in extra time as Cory Gilbert deposited the game-winner after getting setup by Bryce Zeleznik.
The Berg took the lead just 11 minutes into the contest as Zeleznik sent in a Kyle Morton feed to stake them to an early cushion.
One of the 18 fouls by the Berg in the 31
st minute gifted the Yeomen with a penalty kick opportunity. Bulucea, a senior captain from Cleveland Heights, Ohio, would step up to the spot and send in his first goal of the night to even the match at 1-1.
The aggressive play by Oberlin led to shots on frame in the first half by
Nic Jandeleit (2),
Michael Candelori, and
Jack McMillin.
The match stayed even until the 68
th minute when Sam Federici put the Berg back out in front with the help of a Simon Joseph feed.
In search of the equalizer, Oberlin continued to pressure the Berg's backline and their persistence would ultimately pay off late as Bulucea was able to square the tussle at 2-2. Unfortunately, the Berg's game-winner was not too far off as Gilbert's finish sent the Yeomen home heartbroken.
The loss dropped Oberlin back to 0-9-0 overall, while the Berg moved to 3-4-0.
Sophomore
Max Buri got the start in goal, making two saves and allowing one goal before departing ways to
Fiachra McDonagh in the 40
th minute.
Along with the 31 total fouls in the match, six yellow cards were dealt out with four being issued to the Berg.
Brian James and
Jiadi Cheng drew the two Yeomen infractions.
Oberlin is back in action on Saturday night as it hosts Wittenberg University at 7 p.m.