SWARTHMORE, PA - #7 seed Wesley scored three goals in the final 17 minutes of regulation to rally from a 3-0 deficit to tie #6 seed Franklin & Marshall 3-3 in the semifinals of the ECAC Division III Southern Region Men's Soccer Championship at Swarthmore College.
After two scoreless overtime periods, the Wolverines (13-7-2) advanced to the title match on November 14 versus Swarthmore by defeating the Diplomats (11-5-3) 5-4 after seven rounds of penalty kicks.
The win avenges a 3-0 defeat of the Wolverines at the hands of Franklin & Marshall on September 22 in Lancaster.
Trailing 3-0, Wesley began to chip away at F&M's lead as forward Evan Myers scored off a rebound at 73:50 to cut the lead to two goals with 16:10 left to play in the game. The Wolverines struck again less than two minutes later as Derek Roberts-Dukes chipped a ball over Franklin & Marshall goalie Ed Stelz (So., Kew Gardens, NY/Loomis-Chaffee) for a 3-2 game with 14:20 to play.
Wesley kept up the offensive pressure before Roberts-Dukes connected on a free kick with 3:03 left on the game clock to knot the score at 3-3.
The two teams battled to a draw through overtime forcing the game into penalty kicks.
In penalty kicks, Wesley jumped out to a 3-1 advantage before the Diplomats rallied to tie it on their final two kicks. Myers, Edward Hunt and Roberts-Dukes each scored goals for Wesley while, Ryan McGonigle (Fr., Chadds Ford, PA/Unionville), Dan Mills (Sr., Hershey, PA/Hershey) and Alex Sanchez-Sierra (Sr., Tangier, Morocco/American School of Tangier) scored for the Diplomats. Robbie Polk scored for Wesley and Colin Griggs (Jr., Randolph, NJ/Salisbury) evened the match for F&M at 4-4.
In the seventh round, Mike McCans put a shot past Stelz for a 5-4 lead. Needing a goal to continue, forward Brandon Corday (Fr., Morton Grove, IL/Niles Township) fired a shot to the left side of the net which Wesley goalie Edward Hunt stopped to send the Wolverines to the 1:00 p.m. final on November 14 versus #4 seed Swarthmore, a 5-3 victor over #8 seed Washington & Jefferson in the first semifinal.
The Diplomats built a nearly insurmountable lead in the first 56 minutes of play as Corday scored twice and Wallace Eisenhauer (Sr., New Castle, DE/Wilmington Christian) added a goal for a 3-0 lead with 23:29 left on the game clock.
Franklin & Marshall opened the scoring at 23:22 as Corday collected a rebound a beat Hunt for a 1-0 halftime lead.
The lead grew in the second half as Eisenhauer finished a rebound at 47:08 for a two-goal margin. Eight minutes later, Corday tacked on his team's third goal at 56:31 as he curved a shot around the wall on a free kick for a 3-0 lead.
In a physical game that saw three yellow cards, a red card, 22 fouls by Wesley and 18 by the Diplomats, both teams fired away as the Wolverines had 13 shots and Franklin & Marshall collected 14 shots.
In goal, Stelz made nine saves while Hunt recorded eight saves in 110 minutes.
Wesley (13-7-2) 0-3-0-0 (5) -- 3
Franklin & Marshall (11-5-3) 1-2-0-0 (4) -- 3
Goals: F&M - Brandon Corday (unassisted), 23:22
F&M - Wallace Eisenhauer (unassisted), 47:08
F&M - Brandon Corday (unassisted), 56:31
WC - Evan Myers (unassisted), 73:50
WC - Derek Roberts-Dukes (unassisted), 75:40
WC - Derek Roberts-Dukes (unassisted), 86:57
Saves: F&M - Ed Stelz, 9 (110:00)
WC - Ed Hunt, 8 (110:00)
Shots: F&M 14, WC 13
Corners: F&M 2, WC 7
Fouls: F&M 18, WC 21
Offsides: F&M 5, WC 1
