The Bruins men's soccer team (1-3-1) weathered a late push by Alabama A&M (1-6-0) to win in overtime Friday night. The Bruin's attack, led by freshman Brandon Tarr (Knoxville, Tenn.) and senior Justin Hay (Toronto), paved the way to victory on a very wet night in Nashville.
The momentum swung in Alabama's favor late in the first half, as they dictated possession. Despite the possession, Alabama A&M were unable to threaten Bruin keeper Ron Gravely. The half ended with the Bruin's leading by a goal.
Alabama kept the momentum rolling to start the second half. After another long stretch of possession, an Alabama A&M attacker finally let loose on a shot that got past the Bruin's keeper, but was cleared off of the line by sophomore defender Alex Davis (Rockwall, Texas).
Alabama A&M again looked dangerous when a through ball caught the Bruins attempting to pull an offside's trap. An onrushing Bulldog attacker attempted to chip a ball into the net, but keeper Ron Gravely's (Dallas, Texas) diving attempt deflected it just enough to ping off of the crossbar.
The game changed in the 62nd minute, however, when second half substitute Jeff Phillips (Flower Mound, Texas) sent a blistering shot towards the Bulldog net. The keeper made the initial save, but was unable to maintain control as Brandon Tarr ran onto the loose ball to net his second goal of the evening.
All momentum seemed to be in the Bruin's favor after a red card in the 66th minute to Bulldog Cesar Ramirez left Alabama A&M with a player short for the remainder of the match.
The Bruins did not take long to capitalize, and put their third goal of the game into the back of the net just two minutes later. Senior Wade Wonderlin (Franklin, Tenn.) sent a long-ball down the middle of the field to sophomore Will Moorad who outran the Bulldog defense and buried a right-footed shot into the upper left corner of goal. The goal gave Belmont a 3-0 lead.
Nevertheless, the Bulldogs would not give up, and they picked up their intensity. After regaining their composure, the Bulldogs again dictated possession and began firing numerous shots at the Belmont goal.
Their first goal came when Bruin defender Alex Davis drew a penalty kick for taking down a Bulldog attacker inside of the box. The penalty kick was converted by Rogers Atugonza and the score became 3-1 in favor of the Bruins.
Ten minutes later the Bulldogs struck again when Rogers Atugonza's shot was deflecte over the outstretched hand of keeper Ron Gravely and into the back of the net.
The Bruins were stunned with two minutes left in the game when Rogers Atugonza completed his hat trick after being assisted by SSemakula Moses.
Belmont had one more opportunity to end the game in regulation with a victory. A deflected cross ended up at the feet of Brandon Tarr inside of the Bulldog's box with merely a minute remaining in regulation. The deflection gave Tarr just enough trouble, however, that he was unable to gain control of the ball before the Bulldog defenders caught up with him. The second half ended in a 3-3 draw.
Coach Davidson stated, "I wish we had won it in regulation, but Alabama is a very good skillful team, and they were good at possession. They made us chase a lot tonight, and we got a little tired. I thought that we were a bit unlucky on their goal that was deflected."
In overtime, the Bruins looked determined to come out with a victory. A Belmont cross seemed to have deflected off of a Bulldog defender's hand, but the play was waved off by the referee. This sent the Bulldogs on a quick counter attack. The play eventually ended with a shot by Samadu Mutumba that was subsequently saved by keeper Ron Gravely.
A through ball down the right side of the field sprung the Bruins for a counter attack of their own. Will Moorad caught up to the ball in right corner of the field and found a streaking Justin Hay who was running down the middle of the field. Hay's first touch beat his defender, and he nailed a shot past the Bulldog keeper for the game winner.
"I thought that we showed a lot of character and pride coming out and winning it in overtime," said Coach Davidson. "We were good today. We were very good at going forward, and we played hard in the defense. Alabama A&M is a very physical side. This is a good victory for us."
The Bruins will be back in action on Sunday at 12 p.m. CDT as they take on UNC-Asheville.