Clark Scores In Second Overtime To Give Shoremen The Victory

CHESTERTOWN, Md. – Freshman midfielder Skyler Clark (Washington, Conn./The Gunnery) scored 2:20 into the second overtime session for the golden goal to give host Washington College a 2-1 double overtime victory over visiting Swarthmore on Tuesday night in a Centennial Conference men's soccer match in the first contest held on the new turf at Kibler Field at Roy Kirby Jr. Stadium.  The Shoremen, who won their home finale, improve to 6-9-1 overall and 1-6-1 in the Centennial, while the Garnet fall to 9-6-2 and 3-5-0 respectively.

The win also snapped an 11-match losing streak to the Garnet as it was Washington's first victory over Swarthmore since a 3-1 win on October, 30 2002, in the team's home finale that season also.  That 2002 win capped a run of eight straight Washington wins over Swarthmore.  The win also gives the Shoremen a winning record at home this season with a 5-4-0 mark.

Clark's goal completed a transition opportunity for the Shoremen.  The play began with sophomore midfielder Drew Thompson (Dumfries, Va./Woodbridge) getting the ball at midfield and passed the ball ahead to sophomore forward Chris Lewandowski (Pittsburgh, Pa./Mt. Lebanon).  Lewandowski's shot was saved from about 15 yards out by Swarthmore goalie Tyler Zon who came out of his goal to challenge the shot.  The ball got past Zon and Clark pounced on the ball and put it into the empty net from the six to give Washington the walk-off score.

The Garnet got onto the scoreboard 14:08 into the match when Wyatt McCall scored from about 25 yards out on the right side and put the ball into the lower left corner of the net after he got past a WC defender to put Swarthmore ahead 1-0.  Billy Evers notched the assist as he stole a Washington clearing attempt and passed it to McCall for the goal.  Swarthmore would take a 1-0 lead into halftime.

Washington would even the match at the 59:17 mark of the second half when senior forward Joseph Fili (Sparks, Md./Loyola Blakefield) headed in a corner kick into the upper left corner from sophomore midfielder Dimitri Kaliakin (Landenberg, Pa./Salesianum (Del.).  Fili drew the corner kick when he got to a ball that was going out of bounds on the end line and was able to knock the ball off of a Swarthmore defender.

The Garnet had two outstanding scoring opportunities to score the winning goal in regulation.  With 13:08 left in the second half, David Geschwind had header off of a corner kick that Washington senior goalkeeper Lin Robinson (York, Pa./York Country Day) was able to tip off the crossbar with his finger tips to deny the guests from taking the lead.  With 7:01 to go, Alec McClean's shot off of a corner was slowed down by Robinson, but cleared before it crossed the goal line by senior back Zach Stocksdale (Hampstead, Md./North Carroll) to keep the match tied.  The score would remain level until Clark's winner in the second overtime period.

Swarthmore held a 14-11 edge in shots in the match, while both teams took five corner kicks in the contest.  In goal, Robinson made four saves in picking up the win for Washington, while Zon stopped four shots for Swarthmore.

Tonight was the first contest held on the new turf at Kibler Field at Roy Kirby, Jr. Stadium as the old turf was destroyed in an August rainstorm.  The Shoremen played their previous eight home matches this season on the WC Lower Bermuda Field.

The Shoremen conclude their 2014 season on Saturday afternoon with a 4:30 p.m. kickoff at Centennial Conference rival Johns Hopkins in Baltimore.