UM Advances to Semifinals of Peach Belt Tournament with Overtime Victory

MONTEVALLO, Ala. - The University of Montevallo men's soccer team (10-6-1) used a 2-1 overtime victory to advance to the semifinals of the Peach Belt Conference Tournament. The Falcons defeated visiting Francis Marion University (11-5-3) 5:46 into the first overtime off a goal from freshman Arran McCarthy (Lancashire, England/Preston North End).

The Falcons and Patriots played a scoreless first half with neither team gaining much of an advantage. The Falcons held the lead in shots 7-3 and had blasted the FMU goalkeeper with five shots on goal.

The second half was a much different story with both teams attacking the net. The Falcons struck first as Alex Ghoja (Elkmont, Ala./Bob Jones) fired a bending shot past the goalkeeper from just outside the 18-yard box. Sophomore Matt Maughn (Toronto, Ontario/St. Marcellinus) fed the ball into McCarthy who passed it out to Ghoja for the blast.

With just under 11 minutes left in regulation the Patriots struck on a similar shot by Ivan Juric who found the corner of the net to tie the game at one.

The Falcons controlled the ball for the entire overtime period as they earned a pair of corner kicks prior to the game-winning shot.

With 4:14 left in the first overtime period junior Nathaniel Foster (Brampton, Ontario/Humberview Secondary School) raced down the left side of the field and crossed a ball into the box that was kicked at and missed but a sliding McCarthy was able to put just enough on the ball to send it past the keeper for the game-ending score.

The Falcons will now head to Blanchard Woods Park in Evans, Ga. to take on Flagler College in the semifinals of the Peach Belt Conference Tournament. The match will be played this Friday, Nov. 6 at 7:30 p.m.