Box Score
(Haverford, Pa) – The #4-seed Dickinson men's soccer team went all the way to double-overtime with #3-seed Franklin & Marshall, but suffered a heartbreaking, 2-1, loss in the 2013 Centennial Conference Championship on Sunday.
The Red Devils rallied to tie the game in the 80th minute, but playing man-down in overtime, surrendered a goal on a corner in the final minutes of the second extra period.
The Diplomats made an early run, creating a dangerous chance in the opening minutes. They had another strong opportunity, just minutes later, but Ned Wagner (Washington, D.C./Upper Canada College) was there to make a strong defensive play.
Senior Jamie Martin (Chevy Chase, Md./Bethesda-Chevy Chase) answered with a strong shot on the other end, missing just outside the right post.
F&M broke through once again with just over 20 minutes remaining but another solid defensive play stalled the run and forced a corner. The Diplomats finally slipped one into the net, scoring in the 28th minute. Sam Watson struck a loose ball off the foot of a Red Devil to put F&M on the board with an own goal.
The Red Devils had a great chance to tie as Javier Mena (San Salvador, El Salvador/The American School) made a great play on a ball out of the air, redirecting the pass to Alfred Hylton-Dei (Geneva, Switzerland/Mercersburg Academy, Pa.), who put a shot the ball on net.
Martin tried to clean up the rebound and would draw a card for colliding with the goalkeeper.
The score held throughout the remainder of the first half. Wagner came up huge again, early in the second half as a pass on the bumpy grass got behind Red Devils goaltender Jeremy Palcan (Park Ridge, Ill./St. Ignatius Prep). Wagner cleared the ball, literally off the goal line.
Dickinson turned up the pressure on attack, forcing a pair of corners. Alex Bialko (Toms River, N.J./Christian Brothers Academy) had a great look, ripping a shot from just inside the 18 yard box. The box ricocheted off a defender and across the sideline.
The teams went back and forth as action moved around the entire field. A gusting wind played havoc with anything in the air, but both teams were still able to create strong opportunities in their respective attacking thirds.
The Red Devils found the equalizer with 10:55 left to play. What seemed like a relatively harmless throw-in, coming from about 12 yards from the end-line, led to a timely goal to pull Dickinson even.
First-year Austin Thames (Frederick, Md./Urbana) dropped a toss right on the near post and classmate Danny Sheppard (Rydal, Pa./Abington) found a way to put it in the back of the net.
Moments later, the Red Devils blasted a shot off the crossbar and forced another throw-in from almost the same spot as the goal. The Diplomats cleared three straight attempts by Thames to repeat the performance, but the Devils were unable to duplicate the feat.
The Devils drew a free-kick, just on the near side of the midfield. Mena dropped a beautiful serve into the area, forcing the Diplomats to head the ball away and surrender a corner. Mena collected the ball on the sideline and served another dangerous ball to a charging Braeden Kelly (Brookeville, Md./Sandy Spring Friends), but he was unable to direct into the net.
The score held, sending the game into overtime. F&M earned the kick-off, but the Devils quickly gained possession and went on attack.
Ben Beaver slipped through and forced a diving save from Palcan with six minutes on the clock. The defense was there once again to collect the rebound and clear the ball. Thames tried another throw-in but was denied, leading to a Dickinson corner.
Sheppard broke free and fired a shot on net, just inside the near post. Diplomat goalkeeper, TJ White, made the save but appeared to carry the ball across the line as he went to the ground.
He lost possession as well and a streaking Derek Kachadurian (Weston, Mass./Weston) made an attempt on the ball. A collision led to a red card issued to Kachadurian, with less than a minute to play in the first overtime.
The Devils started with possession in the second overtime, but would be man-down for the remainder of the match. The Diplomats capitalized early, forcing Palcan to make a strong play to gain possession in a scramble in front of the net.
The Diplomats drew a free kick, just outside the 18, moments later, and another shot was blocked by a defender. Keeping the pressure on, F&M forced a corner, but Dickinson was able to clear. Only briefly, as F&M countered again and drew another free kick in a dangerous area, just outside the box.
The Devils had a strong opportunity at the three minute mark, but White came out to collect the ball on a dangerous chip into the box.
The Diplomats served a free-kick to the far post and Palcan tipped it away. The ensuing corner, however, would find the net, with 1:32 remaining in the second overtime. Chris Scott put the ball in the net, off the serve from Ryan O'Connell.
The match was relatively just as even, statistically, with F&M holding a 15-12 advantage in shots. Dickinson held the edge in corners, 5-4. Palcan officially made one save, turning in an outstanding performance in the nets. The Devils cleared a pair of balls off the line as well.
White made four stops for F&M as they improve to 14-3-2 on the season.
The Red Devils slip to 14-5-1 overall. They will now look for an NCAA at-large bid, announced on Monday.
Video: Highlights and NCAA Preview (11-12-13)
