Box ScoreSpringfield, Mass. – October 15, 2008 - Tip Nolan netted a breathtaking strike from 25 yards out with under three minutes to play to send the game to overtime as the Springfield College men's soccer team battled the visiting Williams College Ephs to a 2-2 tie in double overtime on Wednesday evening.
With the tie, the Pride move to 5-6-2 on the season while the Ephs improve to 7-2-1.
As time winded down in regulation, Nolan received the ball on the left side of the field, took several dribbles to his right and blasted the equalizer into the upper right hand corner of the net to knot the game at two. To that point, Springfield had mustered just one shot in the second half.
Neither team had a strong scoring chance in the extra periods as the game ended in a two-all tie.
The Pride wasted no time scoring the game's first goal as Scott Swanekamp tallied his first goal of the year just 1:54 into the contest. After Dan Cotter set up the play on a terrific run from the back, Swanekamp collected a loose ball in the box and fired a shot that found the right post. The senior followed up his original shot that deflected past Williams keeper Andrew Graham and banged home Springfield's first tally of the game.
The first half continued in a back and forth affair in which the Pride outshot Williams, 7-5.
The Ephs tied the game at one all in the 49th minute as Peter Gordon volleyed home a ball from eight yards out past keeper Kevin Leahy. Williams, which outshot Springfield 13-5 in the second stanza, then took the lead with just under ten minutes left. After Pierre Meloty-Kapella's header found the cross bar, the ball bounced directly to Conor Smith, who ripped a shot into the upper right hand corner from inside the six-yard box to stun the Pride's crowd.
However, Nolan's strike gave the Pride life as it had a flurry of chances down the stretch but were unable to score the winner.
Leahy made several nice stops and finished with four saves, as did Graham.
Springfield returns to action on Saturday when it plays its final regular season home game of the season at 1:00 pm in a key conference match versus Babson.
Steffen Siebert enters his second season at the helm of the Springfield College men's soccer program in the fall of 2013. After three seasons as an assistant coach, Siebert led the Pride to its second-straight trip to the NEWMAC Championship in his first season. Read more.