(Houghton,
NY)—The Houghton College men’s soccer team opened its season Saturday
night at Burke Field in Houghton, coming back to tie Mid-Continent
University.
“It was
a good tie, because we were down 1-0 and came back,” said Head Coach
Matthew Webb, “but I’m not entirely satisfied. We need to win games like
this if we are going to be a good team.”
Webb
wasn’t entirely dissatisfied, either: “It was a good result against a
difficult opponent early in the season,” he said, “It was a strong
effort.”
Houghton
controlled the play early on and throughout the first half, although
Mid-Continent had some chances as the halftime came near.
Mid-Continent’s Stanislav Jamscek opened the scoring less than three
minutes into the second half when he collected a blocked clearance and
hammered a ball that deflected off a Highlander defender and off the
outstretched hand of goalkeeper Erik Lefebvre.
Exactly
five minutes later, at the 52:56 mark, the Highlanders got the equalizer
when sophomore midfielder Jonathon Brooks drove a long ball from
midfield that eluded the Cougar’s central defender Ceda Tomcic. Junior
forward Austin Beck was there to gather it in, take a touch and chip it
over onrushing goaltender Nikola Samac.
“Austin
Beck has made a difference for this team,” said Webb, “He’s a goal
scorer and he showed that tonight.”
Webb
would have liked for Beck to show it just once more, though, and he
almost did. Just minutes into overtime, a cross from Brooks found Beck
standing all alone at the far post. Beck’s header beat Samac, but not
the crossbar, rattling off it and harmlessly out of the area.
The
Highlanders look to break into the win column Friday night at 7:00 p.m.,
when they host the University of Alabama-Mobile in the first game of
their own tournament, the Highlander Classic.
