(Posted September 4, 2004)

JUNIATA MEN?S SOCCER FALLS IN OVERTIME
Bethany 3, Juniata 2 (OT)

Pittsburgh, Pa. ? A spirited comeback fell just short for the Juniata College men?s soccer team as the Eagles dropped a 3-2 overtime decision to traditional Division III power Bethany (W.V.) in first-round action at the LaRoche College Soccer Tournament. Juniata will complete play at the tournament on Sunday when the Eagles face host LaRoche.

Bethany came out of the gates quickly but Juniata responded with a valiant comeback later in the contest. Bethany scored a pair of goals in the first 20 minutes as they jumped on Juniata early. Brian Bajek followed up a save by Nathan Pugh (Shippensburg/Shippensburg) by knocking in the rebound in the 12th minute to put Bethany on top.

Then eight minutes later Bajek struck again, this time taking a pass from Damien Sanzotti and beating Pugh to extend the lead to 2-0.

Pugh made two saves in net before Mark Guthridge (Dubois/Dubois) replaced him at the 23rd minute mark. The substitution seemed to give Juniata the boost it needed as the Eagles began to chip into the lead.

Kenny Wiles (Rhinebeck/Rhinebeck, N.Y.) began the rally with the first goal of his collegiate career. Wiles took a pass from Rob Bowser (Dallastown/York) and beat the Bethany keeper seven minutes before halftime, sending the Eagles into the half trailing by just a goal.

The momentum continued for Juniata early in the second half as Josh Cady (Malvern Prep/Frazer) tied the game with his first goal of the season. The tally came at 53:03 of the second half, and was assisted by Mike Gwiazdowski (Central York/York). After falling behind early the Eagles had rallied to tie the score.

Guthridge would keep Juniata in the game the rest of the way as he came up big in goal with several of his nine saves coming in the final 45 minutes.

Yet despite the strong comeback, Bethany had the final say as Marc Anger scored the game-winner with five minutes gone in the first overtime session. Anger scored the winner off an assist from Lavel Williams.

Despite the effort, Juniata fell to 0-2 on the season, while Bethany upped its mark to 2-0.

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