Box Score (Box
Score)
PLYMOUTH, N.H. - Sophomore Matt Furman (Montville,
Conn.) scored the game-winning goal on a header three minutes into
the second overtime Saturday evening as Eastern Connecticut State
University nipped Plymouth State University, 3-2, in the Little
East Conference men's soccer regular season finale for both schools
at Panther Field.
It was a see-saw battle as the visitors took a 1-0 lead in the
first half, only to see PSU tally two goals a little over a minute
apart early in the second half. The Warriors evened the match
at 2-2 in the 74th minute and then won it in the second
extra session. Freshman Cory Tobler (Portland, Conn.)
recorded a goal and two assists for the winners, including the pass
that set up the game-winner.
The outcome gives Eastern Conn. a share of the LEC regular season
championship with Keene State College. The Warriors, 14-4-1
overall and 6-1 in conference play, will be the second seed in the
tournament based on a head-to-head loss to Keene State (13-6,
6-1). PSU, 9-8 overall and 3-4 in the conference, ends up in
fifth place in the LEC and on the outside looking in at the LEC
Tourney.
Eastern senior Maxim Fantl (West Hartford, Conn.) and PSU senior
Semir Mehmedovic (Zvornik, Bosnia/Franklin, N.H.)
came into the game as the LEC's co-scoring leaders. Fantl
notched his 16th of the season midway through the
opening half, taking a well-placed through-ball from Tobler on the
left side and knocking it into the right side of the net.
Sophomore Dre Cabral (Tokyo, Japan) put the
Panthers on the board five minutes into the second half with his
first of the season, heading in a corner kick from freshman
Parker Spear (Sodus Point, N.Y.). Mehmedovic
gave PSU the lead just a minute and 20 second later when he turned
and fired from the top of the box, hitting the ball just inside the
lower left corner.
A collision midway through the second half knocked PSU's starting
keeper, freshman Bjorn Ohlsson (Halmstad, Sweden),
out of the game.
Tobler evened the match again for Eastern at 73:48, taking a shot
from the right side of the box and knocking it into the far left
side. Tobler then collected the ball on the right baseline in
the second overtime and lofted a ball that Furman headed in for the
game-winner.
Eastern finished with a 17-15 advantage in shots. Sophomore
Carl Appel (West Windsor,N.J.) made seven saves to earn the win in
the Warrior goal.
Plymouth State must now wait until the ECAC New England Tournament
bids are announced on Monday, Nov. 9.
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