COLUMBUS, Ohio - Ohio Dominican's men's soccer team exerted control for much of Tuesday afternoon's home contest against Saginaw Valley State (Mich.) en route to building a 3-1 advantage, but three unanswered goals over the game's final 14 minutes lifted the Cardinals past the Panthers 4-3 in overtime. 

With the gut-wrenching loss, ODU falls to 4-4-1 overall and 3-2-1 in the GLIAC, while SVSU improves to 7-1-2 on the year and moves into a tie for the conference lead with Northwood (Mich.) at 4-1-1. 

After the teams battled for a scoreless 66 minutes in the first meeting that was eventually called for lightning and ruled a no contest, the Cardinals opened the scoring on Tuesday with a goal at the 29:03 mark. The score awakened the Panthers offense and just over three minutes later senior Felix Darko (Reynoldsburg, OH) found junior Colby Catlett (Hilliard, OH) who blasted a shot near the deep right wing to the far post from 23 yards out. 

The momentum continued for ODU as freshman Brock Taylor (Dublin, OH) nailed the ball to the upper right 90 almost straight on from 12 yards away in the 39th minute following a pass ahead from the top of the box by sophomore Duncan Campbell (Hilliard, OH). 

The Panthers finished the half with a 10-2 shots advantage and picked up in the second right where they left off, building the shots disparity to 16-2, including a point blank shot from Catlett off a corner kick from junior Casey Weddle (Cincinnati, OH) 9:07 into the half to extend the ODU advantage to 3-1. With his second multi-goal game of the season, Catlett leads the Panthers with six scores, including three over the last three outings. 

With the Panthers poised to pick up the key conference victory, SVSU turned up their offensive pressure and at the 77:56 mark, pulled within one as a long pass led to a one-on-one opportunity and a score five yards away from goal. Five minutes later, the Cardinals found the equalizer as a loose ball was passed in by a sliding Craig Neal to the far post and put in by Lachlan Savage for his second score of the afternoon. 

With the momentum on its side, SVSU wasted little time scoring the golden goal in the first overtime as Zachary Myers carried the ball ahead, split a pair of ODU defenders and with over eight minutes remaining, sent home the score from 14 yards deep to the far post. 

The road does get any easier for the Panthers as they begin a three-game road swing against the best of the GLIAC, starting at 4:30 p.m. this Friday, Oct. 7 with a bout against the conference leading Timberwolves.

Contact: Bryan Desch
deschb@ohiodominican.edu