ST. PETER, Minn. – The Gustavus men’s soccer team earned its first victory in Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play Tuesday in dramatic fashion, defeating Saint Mary’s 1-0 in double overtime. The Gusties improve to 2-7-1 overall and 1-2-1 in the MIAC, while the Cardinals drop to 5-4-0 overall and 2-2-0 in the league.
“Good win, and an excellent performance from the lads today that showed their caliber against a very persistent Saint Mary’s team,” Head Coach Mike Middleton said. “We moved the ball very well, playing with tempo and creating a number of good chances, but we always had to be wary of the counter. Saint Mary’s had a very dangerous long thrown-in, and had one good chance in open play that goalkeeper Matt Bateman (So., Savage, Minn.) had to be really on his toes for. I was really pleased for Matt; such a hard worker in practice, he deserves the praise the players gave him.”
Matt Murakami (Jr., Eden Prairie, Minn.) scored the game-winning goal 1:55 into the second overtime off a corner kick. Matt Ouren (So., North Mankato, Minn.) played the ball in from the right corner and Henry Brose (Sr., Hudson, Wis.) had the first touch on a header, where the deflection went to Murakami for the goal, giving the Gusties the sudden death victory. Gustavus was unsuccessful in scoring on its first eight corner kicks, but made the final one count. Saint Mary’s had just two corners throughout the contest.
“The team showed a lot of guts and personality today,” Middleton said. “The lads stood tall, and were not phased about having to go into overtime despite the vast majority of the play. They were terrific and deserved their success. We keep creating more chances knowing that one had to go in eventually.
“Its great to see smiles around the place. I keep telling everyone how well we’ve played up until now, but its difficult if you are not taking home the wins. Today we got that done.
“The only negative on the day was poor Jack Blaney (So., Lake Elmo, Minn.) on his first-team debut. He played very well, and really looked the part. Unfortunately, he then was very unlucky to break his collarbone in a fall that effectively ends his season. That’s such a shame; he’s been a great addition to the squad and is very popular with everyone.”
Bateman recorded his first complete game shutout of the season after making seven saves. The Gusties outshot the Cardinals 15-11 and didn’t allow the visitors to take a shot in either overtime period.
Gustavus next hosts Carleton at 3:30 p.m. Saturday for its Homecoming game.