VERONA, Wis. – In thrilling fashion the Edgewood College men's soccer team edged out the University of Dubuque on Thursday night at Reddan Soccer Park. From the beginning of the contest, both teams brought the pitch to life with incredible energy and grit. With one second left on the clock, freshman Tyler Nelson netted the game winning goal off a pass from Nicholas Bilodeau.
With the match tied at one, Edgewood College (4-2) had a corner kick with just six seconds remaining. The Eagles narrowly avoided overtime, as they rushed to get the kick off before time ran out. Senior Nicholas Bilodeau's corner kick landed perfectly at the feet of Tyler Nelson who quickly controlled the ball before sending the ball past the Dubuque goalie and into the net. Nelson's goal not only won the game for the Eagles, but was his first ever goal as an Eagle.
University of Dubuque (1-4) took the early lead as Ivan Sanchez scored his first goal of the season in the 20th minute of the contest. Sanchez was persistent in front of the net, scoring from three yards out. The Eagles offense was relentless following the Dubuque goal, with seven different players each taking a shot. Even Oppermann was finally able to connect with just under two minutes remaining in the first half. The sophomore converted a shot attempt from Ryan Henry, whizzing the ball past the Dubuque goalie Brandon White to tie the contest at one.
The second half was full of scoring opportunities from both teams, but none of the 15 shots taken were able to find the back of the net until Nelson broke through to give the Eagles the win with one second left.
In the contest, University of Dubuque outshot Edgewood College 20-17. Dan Dombrowski of Edgewood College tallied nine saves while Brandon White of Dubuque recorded six saves. All of the goals scored in the contest were the first of the season for each player. Interestingly, the last time the Eagles won a game this close was in 2009 against Wisconsin Lutheran, as Tyler Duellman scored the game winning goal with five seconds left on the clock.
Edgewood College will be back in action again on Saturday when they travel to Ripon College for a non-conference matchup. Kickoff is set for 1:00 pm.
