MINNEAPOLIS --
Kobby Owu (JR, St. Paul, Minn./Como Park HS) scored for Augsburg University just 1:49 into play, as the Auggies secured the No. 4 seed in the upcoming Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference men's soccer postseason playoffs with a 1-1, two-overtime tie with Bethel University on Friday night.
THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: Augsburg 1, Bethel 1 (2OT)
LOCATION: Edor Nelson Field, Minneapolis
RECORDS: Augsburg 12-5-1 overall (6-3-1 MIAC), Bethel 9-7-2 overall (3-5-2 MIAC)
HOW IT HAPPENED
• Owu scored his team-leading eighth goal of the season just 109 seconds into the game.
Alex Giles (JR, Columbia Heights, Minn./Columbia Heights HS) sprinted up the middle, then fed Owu in the 18-yard box for the early goal.
• Bethel was able to tie the game with a goal off a steal in the 86th minute, and the teams played a scoreless 20 minutes of overtime. Bethel outshot Augsburg by a 21-18 margin, including a 10-6 advantage in the second half. Augsburg had five shots to Bethel's three in the overtime sessions.
•
Tomas Piza-Gonzalez (FY, Minneapolis, Minn./Hiawatha Collegiate HS) had six shots in the game, while
Nick Zuchowski (JR, Wales, Wis./Kettle Moraine HS) had four shots.
• Zuchowski was one of five field players to play the full 110 minutes, joining Giles, defender
Spencer Enright (SO, St. Louis Park, Minn./St. Louis Park HS), defender
Marco Corona-Duran (JR, Fridley, Minn./Spring Lake Park HS) and midfielder
Jorge Radilla Elizalde (SO, Roseville, Minn./Roseville HS).
•
Oscar Herrera (FY, Madison, Wis./Madison West HS) had five saves in goal.
FOR THE FOES
• Keegan Mellema scored at the 85:33 mark for Bethel, scoring on a shot following a steal at midfield by Matthias Caspari.
• Colin Hupert had five saves in goal for the Royals.
BEYOND THE BOXSCORE
• Augsburg will compete in its seventh MIAC postseason playoffs in program history, and its third since the 2016 season. The Auggies clinched the No. 4 seed in the six-team playoffs with the tie, and will host No. 5-seed Macalester on Monday (11/1) at 5 p.m. at Edor Nelson Field.
QUOTES FROM AUGSBURG HEAD COACH GREG HOLKER
• "I thought
Tyler Johnson was outstanding tonight. He filled in admirably, as
Spencer Enright slipped back to replace
Drew Collins tonight. TJ was so fun to watch and so effective."
• "For the first 15 minutes of the game, we were incredible to watch -- we dictated the rhythm, moved Bethel around, created high quality chances, scored a goal, probably should have been up a man, and just overall had fun. Kobby ended his personal goal scoring drought with an excellent turn and finish. It was just a lot of fun to watch. Then we got hit with the chaos hammer, and the game opened up in their favor. We had spells we reclaimed control, but overall we didn't manage it well enough and Bethel deserved the point."
• "The bummer was that it took a heavy toll on our legs having to play extra minutes ahead of Monday's home playoff game with Macalester. We are glad we moved it to Friday to get a little more recovery time, but Macalester has no reason to play its top guys tomorrow at Gustavus, so we are at a bit of a disadvantage there."
