On a wet, soggy day that featured a 30-minute rain delay, the Gustavus men’s soccer team played to a 1-1 double overtime tie against UW-Whitewater in St. Peter on Sunday. Mike Butterworth scored the Gusties’ lone goal on a long pass from Matt Strom eight minutes after the rain delay. UW-Whitewater countered three minutes later with a goal from Ryan Boyd with the assist going to Brett Acree. Gustavus is 10-2-1 overall, while UW-Whitewater moves to 11-1-1.
UW-Whitewater controlled play early in the first half with the Warhawks’ best scoring chance coming when Luke Mangognia kicked the ball off the right goalpost five minutes into the match. Heavy rain and lightning forced a delay shortly after at 23:13 in the first half. When play resumed, Matt Strom (Plymouth, Minn.) kicked a long pass down the left sideline to Mike Butterworth (Katy, Tex.). Butterworth gained control of the pass and shot a laser from twenty yards out to the back right corner of the net in the 32nd minute. The Warhawks quickly responded three minutes later when Ryan Boyd put the ball in an open net on a pass that crossed through the penalty box from Brett Acree. Boyd’s goal was the first goal allowed by Gustavus’ Trevor Brown (Madison, Wis.) in 710 minutes.
Coach Zelenz’s squad turned up the pressure on the UW-Whitewater defense in the second half, but were unable to break the 1-1 tie despite having a 7-0 shot advantage. The Warhawks changed the momentum during both overtimes getting off three shots on goal during the extra periods. However, Brown came up big for the Gusties making the saves. Brown and UW-Whitewater goalkeeper E.J. Sesselmann both allowed one goal and made three saves.
Gustavus returns to action Wednesday with a match against MIAC rival Augsburg at 4:00 pm.