CLEVELAND, GA. |    Bears Finish Regular Season with 2OT Thriller

Saturday was Senior Day for the TMU Men's Soccer Program and before the game Darian Bowen, Jordan Moreno, Jonathan Mendoza, Raul Diaz, and Felipe Nunez were recognized and thanked for their contributions to the program. On top of wanting to finish the regular season with a victory for these fantastic seniors, this match was pivotal for the Bears if they were to secure a home play off spot next week, and the Knights from St. Andrews University were hoping to advance in the conference standings themselves. Two hungry teams paired with cold and rainy weather conditions set the stage for what would be a memorable battle between these two squads. 

The Bears were in control for most of the first half and took the lead rather early with a goal in the second minute of play. Senior Felipe Nunez crossed the ball on the ground through the box, which found the foot of Ignacio Perez who scored the opening goal of the match. The Knights would answer back with a goal of their own in the fifteenth minute, but the Bears still remained positive and kept creating opportunities to recapture the lead. They reclaimed the lead in the twenty-third minute off an assist from Senior Jonathan Mendoza to fellow Senior Raul Diaz, who buried the ball into the back of the net. The Bears added on to their lead in the forty-second minute off a goal from their leading goal scorer, Joao Costa, and the score remained 3-1 going into halftime. 

The Knights showed great resilience in the second half as the Bears sought to protect their lead. As the half progressed the Knights cut into the lead about mid-way through the period. The ball was played in off a corner kick for the Knights and the ball was bounced around the box before it was finally kicked into the net for a St. Andrews goal. As the game went on, the pressure grew on both sides. The Bears were trying their hardest to protect their one goal lead while St. Andrews' players were giving everything they could to find that elusive equalizer. As the rain continued to fall, the pitch became more influential causing some balls to skip farther than normal, other balls to stop suddenly in a puddle, and creating slippery conditions as the players tried to battle for possession. As the half was coming to a close, St. Andrews found the opportunity that they had been looking for and rifled a shot into the goal, tying the game at three goals a piece and eventually sending the match into extra time. 

The Bears did well in the first half of extra time by not allowing the Knights to shoot a single shot, but both of the shots from the Bears were wide of the target and the match went into the second period of extra time. St. Andrews out shot the Bears in the second part of extra time. One shot hit the post and the other two shots were saved by Bears' GK Evan Gaffney. Then, with less than a minute left in the match, the Bears found their golden opportunity as the ball found its way past the St. Andrews GK ,but had not crossed the goal line until Joao Costa beat everyone else to the ball and rocketed it home into the net, ending the game with the Bears claiming a 4-3 victory. 

"The game had everything! The boys pulled through mentally to get a goal late in overtime. We played fantastic today and scored some great goals," said Coach Rob Miller. He was very pleased how his team opened up the game playing great team soccer, even though the conditions of the field were not ideal. Due to this win, along with other results in conference Saturday night, the Bears will host the Bluefield College Rams in the conference playoffs on Friday November 3rd.