Last-second goal pushes soccer past Bowling Green
With 10 seconds remaining in overtime, sophomore Alexis Pelafas found sophomore teammate Madison Costner for the game-winning goal to give the Central Michigan soccer team a 2-1 victory against Bowling Green on Sunday.
Late in the second half, CMU was called for a handball, leaving BGSU's Maureen Kennedy with an open lane to score from inside the penalty box in the 79th minute to give the Falcons a 1-0 lead.
The BGSU goal put the entire stadium in a down mood, but that wasn't the case for the Chippewas on the field.
Pelafas continued to get opportunities throughout the match, whether it was break aways or cross passes. At the 87th minute mark, Pelafas scored her 13th goal of the season off of an assist from Eliza Van de Kerkhove to tie the game.
CMU (12-1-1, 4-1-1 MAC) used the momentum from the tying goal to force overtime for the third time in the last four games.
“It wasn't a game that was going our way, but thats what makes this team so special,” Costner said. “We respond to adversity. If things aren't going our way we find a way to make it happen, and that's just what we did.”
Head coach Peter McGahey said he was pleased with the way his team didn't give up and continued to fight until the end.
“I think they did a good job of committing to score the first one, sometimes you can say okay, you gotta score two and you get ahead of yourself," he said. "They showed resiliency and urgency to get the first one, and after the first one went in, I think confidence went through the group to get a second one."
The Chippewas did just that.
As time began to run out in overtime, the physicality picked up as players were colliding full force with each other to try and score game winning goal. It appeared that time was going to run out until CMU had one last rush.
CMU hosts Kent Sate on Friday at home at 6 p.m. The Golden Flashes enter the game 10-1 overall and 6-0 in the Mid-American Conference.
