ASHLAND, Ohio – The Saginaw Valley State University men's soccer won its second thrilling overtime game in two weeks to stay perfect, knocking off Ashland University in a road Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference contest Sunday in Ashland, Ohio.
After 90 scoreless minutes, the No. 23 Cardinals began the first overtime session with a flurry of golden chances to score, but the Ashland goalkeeper kept SVSU at bay. The Cardinals finally broke through as Brady Walker collected a cross at the far post and put it away to secure the 1-0 win.
The victory moves SVSU to 4-0-0 overall with three games left in the 2021 spring regular season. The Cardinals are the lone undefeated team remaining in the GLIAC and are a full game ahead of second-place Purdue Northwest in the standings.
"It comes down to the character and attitude of this team," Head Coach Louis Barrow said. "I think we have set the bar and we have got to maintain that. Our start has set us up for teams to be chasing us the rest of the way and that is a great feeling."
The goal by Walker came after SVSU had a brilliant opportunity minutes earlier as Ashland goalkeeper Jacob Henriksen made an errant throw leaving the Cardinals with an open net to shoot at. Henriksen scrambled back to just get a toe on the SVSU shot and send it out of bounds.
"I have to credit Ashland," Barrow said. "They are so organized and really well-coached. Their keeper made some fantastic saves and they made it really tough for us."
Coore took a ball off a midfield throw-in and raced toward the corner where he sent a cross bouncing across the six-yard box, eventually finding its way to Walker for the game-winner in the 95th minute.
Mason Maziasz picked up his second shutout win of the season to move to 4-0-0 in net for the Cardinals, making one save. SVSU outshot Ashland 24-4 in the win.
The Cardinals return home to take on Davenport University at 4 pm Saturday at Braddock Field.