For the first 20 minutes of its 4-3 victory over Westminster College Tuesday, Oct. 3, at John F. Wiley stadium, it appeared as if everything was going wrong for the Waynesburg University men’s soccer team.

The Yellow Jackets were down 2-0. They were facing an offense that came into the night leading the Presidents’ Athletic Conference in most statistical categories. Making matters worse, they lost their goalkeeper, junior James Snyder, to a knee injury less than seven minutes into the contest, leaving freshman Adam Dolan to try and hold the fort for the Jackets in just his second game of the season against the Titans’ high-powered attack.

With a little over 20 minutes gone in the first half, the Jackets started to chip away when freshman forward Daniel Hott scored his first college goal. For head coach Brad Heethuis, cutting the lead in half was a huge boost for both Hott and the team.

“It was massive to get some momentum back on our end,” Heethuis said. “It was really good for [Hott] individually to get that first collegiate goal. So all the way around, it really gave us that jolt of energy to start the comeback.”

With this jolt of energy, the Jackets drew level less than six minutes later, when sophomore midfielder Justin Buberl scored his third goal of the campaign, assisted by junior defender Tyler Sisler.

At the half, Westminster had 12 shots to Waynesburg’s three, and managed four corner kicks, while Waynesburg did not have any. Both teams were even in shots on goal with four each.

Less than ten minutes into the second half, Buberl scored his second goal of the night to give the Jackets a 3-2 lead. Once again it was Sisler who got the assist, this time with a cross inside the 18-yard box.

With his two goals on the evening, Buberl currently leads the team on the season with four. For Buebrl, being on the same page with his teammates is essential to his individual success.

“It’s just connecting with the guys,” Buberl said. “It’s all teamwork; it’s not an individual performance. Tyler Sisler did a great job of serving me in-balls, and I was able to put it away.”

With a little less than 18 minutes to play, Waynesburg added insurance when junior midfielder Sam Almeter put a cross from freshman forward Thomas Drake in the back of the net to make it 4-2.

That insurance goal proved to be vital when Westminster senior Fedja Smajic cut the lead in to one less than a minute later. Despite that scare, Waynesburg held on for the final 17 minutes for a 4-3 win.

For over a half hour, the Titans played with nine men on the pitch. A little over 12 minutes into the second half, sophomore Ahmed Cisse and senior Kornel Foremski both received red cards. Considering the two man disadvantage, Westminster head coach Girish Thaker was not discouraged with the performance from his team despite the loss.

“We played with nine players pretty much the whole second half,” Foremski said. “I think that considering that we were playing with nine players against 11, we had a good effort coming back [making it a one-goal game] and it was right there, we were in there. Credit to Waynesburg for [getting back into the game]. I think my guys gave everything they had today. Really they couldn’t give any more.”

Formeski said he saw no major differences in Waynesburg’s tactics later in the game as opposed to the first 20 minutes.

“No, there wasn’t much [different],” Formeski said. “We knew what they were going to do…when we came in the game we were thinking that we were going to have to work hard.”

Formeski cited Westminster’s only converting two of its 12 first-half shots as a reason for Waynesburg having a chance to get back in the game.

“We had chances in the first half that could have probably opened the game up into three or four goals, and we just didn’t do it,” he said. “That’s what happens in soccer. You don’t take your chances, and anything can happen.”

Heethuis noted the combination of Buberl’s finishing and Sisler’s attacking as big parts of Waynesburg’s offensive success.

“[Tyler Sisler] did really well on the wing,” Heethuis said. “He has a lot of creativity and a lot of skill out there, and we tell him to use it, to take guys one-on-one, and to either get one himself or whip a ball in for somebody else…we’ve struggled with some finishing during the year, and tonight our guys, Justin [Buberl] included, when we got in the right situation, we were able to put balls away.”

Tuesday was a big night for Dolan, who picked up his first collegiate win in goal.

“For a goalkeeper, it’s a really tough position to be put in, coming off the bench pretty much ice cold,” Heethuis said. “Especially for him, facing some shots pretty much after he got in. He was able to kind of calm down a little bit, and settle in, and did enough for us to get a win.”

For Dolan, the experience of playing a role in the come-from-behind win was thrilling.

“It feels great,” Dolan said. “I hope [Snyder] feels better soon. The defense did super well. They bailed me out a lot. Just a great team win.”

With the win, Waynesburg is now 4-4-2 overall and 2-0 in conference action, while Westminster is 5-5-1 overall and 0-1 in PAC play. Waynesburg’s next game will be in Crestview Hills, Kentucky this Saturday, Oct, 7, against Thomas More (6-4-1, 2-0). Start time is 3 p.m.

For Heethuis, although the win over Westminster was not perfect, the result is what counts.

“The boys did enough,” Heethuis said. “The boys did enough to get the three points…We’ll take it, and tomorrow we’ll get back to practice in training and get better.”