Box Score

Danville KY- The Spalding University men's soccer team won their second game in the 24th Annual Bob Allen Nissan Classic at Centre College last night, beating Franklin College 2-1 in overtime.

Despite outshooting Franklin 10-8 in the 1st half and holding a 6-0 advantage in corner kicks, it was the Grizzlies who would head into halftime with a 1-0 lead after William Hilgendorf scored on a Chad Parrett assist. Spalding's best chance in the 1st half would happen when Abdullahi Abdullahi rocketed a rebound shot off the crossbar with less than five minutes on the clock.

Spalding would come out of halftime on the front foot, Stephen Hubert blasting a great shot within the first five minutes that was saved by a diving Lucas Hill for Franklin. But Hubert would find his goal at the 61:47 mark when he received a pass from Julio De Leon. After beating two defenders, Hubert ripped a low drive into the side-netting to tie the game at 1-1.

Despite several SU chances, including a Justin Toller shot that nicked the post, Spalding and Franklin would head into overtime with the score tied 1-1.

With less than a minute remaining in the first OT period, SU goalkeeper Logan Spencer punted the ball up the field. After Toller flicked the ball on, Abdullahi would do the rest when he beat a defender and poked the ball into the back of the net for the sudden-death game-winning goal.

On the night, Spalding outshot Franklin 27-16 and held an 8-0 advantage in corner kicks. Spencer made eight saves for the Golden Eagles in the net.

"Franklin was coming off an impressive 110-minute performance the night before so we knew they would have some heavy legs and wanted to put them under as much pressure as possible from the opening whistle," Head Coach Adam Boyer commented. "I thought our guys played some of their best soccer of the season tonight and was proud of their ability to not only get themselves back into the game, but to go on and find a way to win it in exciting fashion," he continued.

With the win, Spalding improves to 2-2-0 on the season. They finished tied for second at the Bob Allen Nissan Classic with Kenyon College. Centre won their invitational after beating Kenyon 2-1 in the nightcap on Saturday.

"We have an important stretch of games in front of us over the next two weeks," Coach Boyer continued. "This was an important win for our group and a big step in the right direction."

Spalding travels to Cincinnati, Ohio on Wednesday for a night game against The College of Mount Saint Joseph. Kick-off is set for 7:30pm.