Late Penalty Kick Gives Scranton 2-1 Win

October 5, 2013

TOWSON, Md. – In the blink of an eye, what looked like a sure draw turned into a victory for The University of Scranton men’s soccer team on Saturday.

The Royals drew a penalty in the box with 32 seconds left in double overtime and senior midfielder Colin McFadden (Ventnor City, N.J./St. Augustine Prep) buried the penalty kick to give the Royals a 2-1 victory at Goucher in a Landmark Conference match.

McFadden’s first goal of the season capped a wild finish that saw the Goucher goalie make what looked like a game-saving stop with 57 seconds left in the second overtime. But a scramble off the ensuing corner kick led to a handball foul in the box on the Gophers. The foul resulted in yellow and red cards against Goucher, not to mention the automatic penalty kick.

The goal was McFadden’s first of the season and fourth of his career. It also gave Scranton its seventh victory in eight tries all-time against Goucher.

The Royals (6-1-3) also received a goal from senior midfielder Bill McGuiness (Forty Fort, Pa./Wyoming Valley West) in the 57^th minute. It was his seventh goal of the season, the most on the team, and 23^rd of his career. Senior forward John Spadaro (Stony Point, N.Y./Albertus Magnus) picked up the assist, his second of the season and third of his career.

McGuiness now has 59 career points (23 goals, 13 assists), tied for 18^th all-time in Scranton history.

Exactly a minute after McGuiness gave Scranton a lead, Goucher (6-4-1) answered back on a goal by sophomore defender George El-Khoury (Cranford, N.J./Cranford), who headed in a free kick by freshman forward Kevin Tonkovich (Lacey, N.J./Lacey Township).

Scranton held a 19-8 advantage in shots, including 3-0 in the second overtime period. The Royals had seven shots on goal to just two for the Gophers. Scranton also had the advantage in corner kicks, 8-3.

The Royals return to action on Tuesday, Oct. 8, when they travel to upstate New York to face Elmira at 4 p.m.

--ROYALS--