Langhorne, Pa. –
Abreham Kittel (Trumansburg, N.Y./Charles O. Dickerson) scored in the 103
rd minute to give visiting Keystone College a thrilling, 2-1 double overtime victory at Cairn University in Colonial States Athletic Conference men's soccer action on Saturday afternoon. The Giants improve to 6-3-1 overall and 3-0 in conference play. The Giants, who are off to their best start in conference play since joining the CSAC, also extended their winning streak to four games.
The first half of Saturday's contest was tightly contested with Keystone holding a slim, 7-6 advantage in shots in the frame. Cairn goalkeeper Mark Heater made three saves while
Malcom Moreira (Hillside, N.J./St. Benedict Prep) made a pair of stops in the Giants' net to keep the game scoreless at the end of 45 minutes of play.
Cairn opened the scoring just 4:43 into the second half when Brendan Keller took a pass from Zack Nelson and beat Moreira with a shot from the right side to give the Highlanders a 1-0 edge.
Keystone drew level in the 63
rd minute when
Ibrahim Tounkara (Nazareth, Pa./Nazareth Area) netted his third goal of the season, ripping a shot home to the left post to pull the Giants into a 1-1 tie.
Cairn had the best chance at the go-ahead goal in the 69
th minute when it was awarded a penalty kick, but Joey Weaver put the shot over the crossbar and the game remained knotted at one-apiece.
In the first 10-minute overtime frame, the Highlanders held a 6-1 advantage in shots, but neither team was able to find the game-winner with Moreira and Heater making one save each.
Kittel ended the game just 2:31 into the second session of overtime, taking a feed from Tounkara and beating Heater to the bottom right corner of the net. The junior's second goal of the season gave Keystone its third win in as many conference games this fall.
Moreira made five saves to pick up his fourth win of the season while lowering his goals-against average to 1.27 on the year.
Heater finished with five stops for Cairn, who fell to 4-8-1 overall and 0-3 in the CSAC with the loss.
Keystone held a 7-6 advantage inon goal and both teams had four corner kicks each in the game. The Highlanders held a 22-17 edge in total shots.
Kittel led the Giants with four shots,
Haris Sabovic (Brodheadsville, Pa./Pleasant Valley) attempted three shots, while Tounkara,
Angel Perez (Miami, Fla./Dr. Michael M. Krop),
Andrew Lupinacci (Stratford, N.J./Sterling), and
Rolando Rodriguez (Linden, N.J./Linden) each were credited with a pair of shots each on the day.
Keystone will be back in action on Tuesday afternoon with a conference tilt at local CSAC foe Clarks Summit University starting at 3:30 p.m. in Clarks Summit.