Edwardsville, IL – The Principia College Men hosted the Fontbonne Griffins at Ralph Korte Stadium on a hot Saturday afternoon in their fourth SLIAC contest this season. The Panthers entered the game with a conference record of 1-2, hungry for a win.
A Look at the Game –
Both teams felt their way into the game for the first ten minutes. Fontbonne sat deep and waited for Principia to attack, then looked to break quickly on counter attacks. Principia found it difficult to break the Griffins' defensive block in the first half, but both sides were able to create some dangerous chances. In the 12
th minute,
Seth Arens won the ball in Principia's defensive half and triggered a quick counter attack, combining with
Patrick Sherman and
Diego Alas. Alas touched the ball past a lunging Fontbonne defender inside the box, drawing a foul and a penalty kick for the Panthers.
Seth Arens stepped up and pushed the ball into the bottom left corner (Principia 1, Fontbonne 0). Both teams created a number of chances and
Elias Simpson made 3 close-range saves in the first half to keep Principia in the game.
Cole Heinbaugh had two good shots on target that were saved by the Fontbonne keeper. Fontbonne found the tying goal in the 26
th minute on a breakaway that caught the Panthers' defense unprepared (Principia 1, Fontbonne 1). Ten minutes later, Fontbonne capitalized on another chance inside of the box to take the lead going into half time (Principia 1, Fontbonne 2).
The Principia Men played better in the second half, holding most of the possession and controlling the tempo of the game. The Fontbonne block did not break easily, but Principia continued to press through the second half. The Panthers finally found their chance with just over 5 minutes left in regulation time.
Seth Arens picked up the ball 40 yards from goal and drove past the Fontbonne midfielders, then slipped a pass through to
Cole Heinbaugh who finished neatly into the right side of the goal (Principia 2, Fontbonne 2; 85
th minute). 90 minutes ended with the score knotted at 2-2, sending the game into overtime. The Panthers brought their momentum from the end of the game into overtime and it didn't take long for them to find the chance they needed. A minute and a half into overtime,
Pablo Alas picked up a clearance about 40 yards from the Fontbonne goal and sent the ball to
Walter Lazo on the back post. Lazo took a touch away from the defender and finished into the bottom left corner with a solid shot for the golden goal. The match ended 3-2 in favor of Principia.
Good to Know-
Coach Quote
"This game was a tough test. The team showed that they will work hard to the final seconds to create chances and we were prepared to keep on working after that in overtime. There is still a lot that we need to improve on, but we will build on this and it feels great to get a win that the guys earned."
Up Next- On Tuesday, March 30
th, at 7:00PM, Principia will travel to Fulton, MO to take on Westminster College.
