UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. - The Saginaw Valley men's soccer team
defeated Davenport University today (Sept. 25) 3-2 in overtime.
The Cardinals allowed Davenport to get on the board early in the
game, but would answer back near the end of the half to knot the
score at one. Freshman Zach Walega (Saline,
Mich.) scored off a pass from senior leader Anthony
Palazzolo (Warren, Mich./De La Salle HS).
Saginaw Valley took control of the game going up 2-1 in the
second half when freshman Noah Sawyer (East
Lansing/Haslett HS) found Cedric Daley
(Montego Bay, Jamaica) for the goal. Davenport did not given in as
they tied the game with just minutes to go in regulation
time.
The Panthers would take an untimely pentalty in overtime play
allowing a pentalty kick for Saginaw Valley. Sophomore Zach Myers (Grand
Rapids, Mich./Forrest Hills Eastern HS) found the back of the net
on the kick to give the Cardinals the 3-2 victory.
Saginaw Valley head coach Cale Wassermann stated after the game,
"It was a game that we were not prepared for mentally after another
midweek game which disrupted our training schedule. Our mental
mistakes led to goals in the first and last five minutes of the
game. We struggled to keep the ball for most of the game but we had
flashes of brilliance when we started to put things together. Our
goalkeeper, Piotr Kazmierczak
(Stargard, Poland), made some huge saves to keep us in the game and
I was happy to see Myers step up with confidence and win the game
for us. We went into overtime with the mentality that it was our
game to win and we came out strong, we look to take that mentality
into Ohio next week".
With the win Saginaw Valley improves to 5-3-1 overall on the
season, while Davenport falls to 7-5 overall on the season.
The Cardinals will be back in action on Friday (Oct. 1) when they
travel to Lake Erie University. Game time is scheduled for
7:00 pm.
