Waynesburg Men’s Soccer beats Thiel during senior night marathon

Samuel Hawkins scores both goals in double overtime win

The Waynesburg University Men’s Soccer team hosted the Thiel Tomcats for a Presidents’ Athletic Conference senior night matchup on Saturday Oct. 23. 

The game began with offensive chances for both teams including a save by Waynesburg freshman goalkeeper Michael Francus using his hand to deflect the ball off the top of the goal frame and back out. 

The Jackets lead the Tomcats in shots 2-1 before junior forward Samuel Hawkins opened the scoring off of a feed from senior midfielder Daniel Hott just 18 minutes into the game. 

Waynesburg coach Treg Lunger praised Hawkins’ effort, “He’s done really well being able to produce on the field,” he said.  “[Samuel] has played in a lot of different positions, but across the front three he has been giving us a lot of opportunities not only to provide service, but also getting into position to put the ball home.”

Although Waynesburg out shot Thiel 8-3 and drove the pace of most of the first half, the Yellow Jackets would hold on to their 1-0 lead at halftime. 

Waynesburg kept up the heavy offensive pressure in the second half racking up 15 shots and forcing junior goalie Noah Brieck to make 15 saves for the Tomcats. 

Lunger also talked about the importance of his team to finish on chances, “To be more clinical is something we definitely need especially when we have so many chances like we did in the second half like we did to create around the frame,” he said. “We’re always looking for guys that can have moments of quality.”

The second half was also filled with more emotion and both teams were awarded yellow cards. The first yellow card came just before the 70th minute, and was given to Thiel’s freshman defender Evan Kosenina. 

Sophomore midfielder Logan Corradi was then awarded a yellow card almost 11 minutes later for Waynesburg. 

Brieck kept the game close for the Tomcats in net, and freshman forward Dakota King tied the game in the 84th minute. The late goal forced overtime. 

Both teams recorded three shots on goal, and traded some offensive chances in the first 10 minute overtime frame, but the game remained tied at 1-1. 

The Yellow Jackets would then emerge victorious when Hawkins scored his second goal of the game just four minutes into the second overtime. 

The goal gave Waynesburg a 2-1 win and improved the team’s record to 3-12 overall, and 2-6 in PAC play. 

The Yellow Jackets will return this Wednesday October 27 to finish the regular season hosting the Geneva College Golden Tornadoes at John F. Wiley stadium at 7pm. 

Lunger was happy with the win, and hopes his team will finish the season on a three game win streak, “I’d love for us to run the table at the back end of our season and go 3-0,” he said. “That’s our hope and the motto and mantra for us in the last 10 days has been to finish strong.”