What do you get when you mix perfect weather and two ranked NJCAA soccer teams on the Flo Valley campus on Monday afternoon? An epic soccer match that left everyone sitting on the edge of their seats and trying to control the roller coaster of emotions that came with a match that almost ended with one second on the clock, but luckily for the Archers the right post came up with the biggest save of the afternoon as the sixth ranked Archers tripped up nineteenth ranked Lewis & Clark 3-2 in overtime.
Connor Walters got the Archers on the board in the thirteenth minute of the match as he connected on Noah Vezzu pass to give the Archers a 1-0 lead and two minutes later Vezzu gave the Archers a 2-0 lead on an assist from Chris Eduardo. The Trailblazers got a goal back in the thirty-sixth minute as Osvaldo Guerrero hammered a shot from the top of the box to cut the STLCC lead to 2-1 at the half. In the seventieth minute Rhys Saunders connected on a loose ball in front of the net to tie the match at 2-2, thus setting up one of the craziest endings you will ever see on a soccer field. Both teams had multiple opportunities in the final twenty minutes, but none closer than the opportunity Lewis & Clark had in the final five seconds, as they penetrated deep in the STLCC box and fired off a shot that hit the right post with one second remaining and quickly got scooped up by Archer goalie Braedan Passalis, to send the game into overtime.
The only shot in the first overtime came off the foot of Connor Walters, who connected for his second goal of the day and his seventh of the year, off an assist from Conor McArthur to give the Archers the golden goal winner. STLCC, improves to 8-0 on the season and run their unbeaten regular season streak to twenty-seven matches, returns to Region 16 action on Saturday afternoon, with a 2:00 pm start on the Flo Valley campus against Crowder College.