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Highway to Highmark halted: Jackets lose in double-overtime

By Rob Longo sports Editor 3 min read
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All good things must come to an end.

The Waynesburg men’s soccer team found out the hard way Tuesday after a 2-1 loss at Grove City in double overtime in the semifinals of the Presidents’ Athletic Conference Championship Tournament. Even though the Jackets lose, they clinched the best finish in the conference in program history.

It didn’t take long for the Wolverines to get on the board. In the 7th minute, Grove City’s Dale Reese found the back of the net on a long through ball from Nich Leaman to put the Wolverines up 1-0.

“We came out timid,” said senior defenseman Trent Spear. “By the time we realized it, they were already a goal ahead. They came out strong and we came out scared. We weren’t going into tackles hard.”

After multiple chances throughout the day in the second half, Waynesburg finally broke through in the 80th minute. Senior defenseman Ray Melone took a corner kick, bent it toward the net and somehow, the ball found its way home to level the score at one.

“We had a bunch of corner kicks up to this point and we were knocking,” said senior midfielder Nick Brommer. “[Melone] was playing in good balls the entire time. Honestly, I think he shanked it. It might have hit the keeper’s hands and went in.”

Either way, the Jackets found a way to score a late equalizer and force the game to extra time. After a back-and-forth first-overtime period, no winner was determined.

However, in the 103rd minute, Grove City’s Stephen Betteridge’s low shot found its way underneath Waynesburg goalkeeper Brandon Daughtry and in to send the Wolverines to the PAC finals Saturday at Highmark Stadium in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to face top-seeded Thomas More, who beat Geneva in overtime Tuesday.

“[Daughtry] made a great save minutes before where it was the same identical play,” said Spear. “They made solid runs up top. I think it was just the defense was tired because it was hard to step at that point in the game.”

Tough field conditions also didn’t do Waynesburg any favors. The grass pitch at College Field was soft, which forced defensemen in the deep corner on one side of the pitch to tread lightly. Paired with strong wind gusts that favored one side of the field, play was determined by the attacking ends for each team.

“I think the wind played a factor in the first half,” Spear said. “The field conditions were pretty weird. The grass was nice, but it was kind of muddy and squishy. In the first half, my left corner was a mud pit. The first time I went in, I wasn’t expecting that and just went sliding in. That might have played a factor because I just was worn down from running in and trying to jab on defense. It definitely threw it off because it’s not that same push you get off turf or regular grass.”

Despite the loss, the season for Waynesburg may not be over. The Jackets will find out Monday if they qualify for the East Coast Athletic Conference Tournament.

If Grove City upsets Thomas More Saturday, that would allow Waynesburg to be the best team by record in the conference, due to the fact that the Saints aren’t members of the ECAC.

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