Late Goal Sinks Men’s Soccer in Heartbreaking 2-1 Loss to Alvernia

TOWSON, Md. - A goal by visiting Alvernia with 1:30 seconds left in regulation broke a 1-1 tie, and lifted the visiting Golden Wolves to a 2-1 victory over the Goucher College men's soccer team on Wednesday evening at Beldon Field.

With the defeat, Goucher dropped to 0-4-1 overall for the year, while Alvernia improved to 2-3-1 with the win.

To start the match, things were about as even as they could be between both squads in the first 45 minutes of action, with Alvernia outshooting Goucher, 8-7. Throughout the first half, each squad had scoring opportunities, but could not finish, as the match went into intermission in a scoreless tie.

In the second half, Alvernia began to play as the aggressors, as they outshot Goucher, 4-1, in the first 25 minutes of the period.

Finally, in the 70th minute, the Golden Wolves broke the scoreless tie, as Gabe Sensenig scored to make it a 1-0 game with a little over 20 minutes to go in regulation.

As the regulation clock ticked to under 10 minutes to go, Goucher was afforded their best scoring chance of the half, as the Gophers were awarded not just one corner kick, but four consecutive corners.

On the fourth and final corner, first-year Aidan Spoor (Milton, Del.) lifted a ball towards the box right to fellow first-year Nick Sickler (Towson, Md.) who buried the scoring chance from a few yards out to tie the match up at 1-1.

For both Sickler and Spoor, the play yielded their first goal and assist, respectively, of their collegiate careers.

With the match tied, this set-up a frantic last nine minutes of regulation, which came to a head with two minutes left when Alvernia was awarded a corner. There, the Golden Wolves converted, as Joe Ginder scored the eventual game-winner with 1:29 left in regulation.

Overall in the contest, Alvernia was able to outshoot Goucher, 18-11, while the Gophers held a 12-10 edge on corner kicks. In net, senior Daniel Hendry (Lewisburg, Pa.) kept Goucher in it all night long, eventually making six saves.

The Goucher College men's soccer team returns to action on Saturday, as they travel to Immaculata for a 1 p.m. kickoff.

--GOPHERS--