The Gustavus men’s soccer team advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament for the second consecutive year by winning a penalty kick shootout 3-1 over Wheaton on Saturday afternoon in Whitewater, Wisconsin. The two teams played to a 1-1 tie through two overtimes before going to the decisive shootout.
The Gusties fell behind 1-0 on an own goal in the first half. Very wind conditions led to a ball bouncing off defender Grant Morlock and into the Gustavus net.
Forty-five seconds into the second half, senior midfielder Bobby Kroog evened the score at 1-1 as he headed in a long throw in from sophomore forward Mike Butterworth (Anchorage, Alaska).
The score remained tied at 1-1 through two overtimes, so the game was decided by a penalty kick shootout. Gustavus goalkeeper Tyler Garry came up with two impressive saves in the shootout allowing the Gusties to win the shootout 3-1 and advance to next weekends sectional.
Gustavus will play the winner of tomorrow’s Macalester/Loras match at a site that will be determined late Sunday evening.
Gustavus is now 14-2-5 overall. The result of today’s match is officially a 1-1 2 OT tie with Gustavus advancing as a result of a 3-1 advantage in the shootout.
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