Box Score Henry, Vinyard Lead Scots to First Win on Renovated Field
MARYVILLE – The Maryville College men's soccer team did it again on Friday night, as the Scots opened the Maryville College Classic with a thrilling 3-2 win in double overtime.
Ndubueze Henry scored the Golden Goal in the 104th minute, marking MC's second-consecutive overtime victory and their third on the season.
The victory marks the first win on Maryville's newly renovated field, made possible through a private gift of $1 Million. That gift allowed the field to be returfed and repositioned to allow for future projects.
"It's pretty special," Head Coach Pepe Fernandez said. "[Austin Vinyard] gets the men's first goal here on the field, and we win in an overtime game here. It's something these kids will never forget and something this program will never forget."
Maryville's Golden Goal – the third such of the season – came as Vinyard lofted a volley to a streaking Henry. He took it on one bounce, dribbled left and fired a shot to the far right corner from 17 yards out to kick off the celebration.
The victory moves Maryville to 4-1 on the year, as Southern Virginia falls to 0-3.
"First and foremost, they're finding a way to win," Fernandez added. "I thought we probably played our worst game, but give credit to Southern Virginia. I thought they brought a whole set of energy that caught us off guard. Not that we didn't respect them as a team, but I think we were feeling pretty good – 3-1 coming off an overtime win against Berry. Our mentality wasn't quite right. I thought our finishing was way off tonight. Some of it may be new field jitters a little bit, but I thought that we were able to figure a way to win – tie it up late and win it in overtime. You don't want to rely on that all the time, but it's a whole lot better than not finding a way to win."
Maryville struck first in the 29th minute, as Craig McIlwraith found Vinyard on the run. The senior tallied his second goal of the season from just outside the penalty area to make it 1-0 early on.
Southern Virginia would knot it at 1-all in the 39th minute. Chris Reeves' shot was saved by Noah Putman, before Danny Fietkau collected the rebound. His shot found net from 8 yards out in the 39th minute.
The score would remain tied at the half, as SVU outshot Maryville 9-6. MC had four shots on frame to the Knights' seven.
Southern Virginia made it 2-1 in the 51st minute, as Shawn Curtis found Ammon Lewis for the match's third goal.
Henry would tie it again in the 87th minute, however, as Davis Clothier found him loose on the right side. Clothier fed Henry the pass on the right wing, as Henry dribbled twice. He blasted a shot from 10 yards into the lower left corner to force overtime.
Henry's third goal of the year was the game-winner in overtime.
MC outpaced Southern Virginia, 20-14, in shots, as the Scots found frame 10 times.
Henry had a pair of goals on four shots, while Vinyard added an assist and a goal. Clothier and McIlwraith had an assist each for the Orange and Garnet.
Maryville will look next to N.C. Wesleyan, as the Scots take on the Battling Bishops in Charlotte, N.C. The match is set for Friday, Sept. 17 with a 2:00 p.m. first touch.
