With 12 minutes to go in Thursday afternoon's match, it looked as though the Mid-Continent University men's soccer team would be frustrated on the road at Oakand City University.
Jan Chvojan helped change all that.
Chvojan tallied a goal and an assist in the closing moments, punctuating the comeback with a dramatic game-winning goal as the Cougars (2-1) downed the OCU Mighty Oaks (0-1), 3-2.
Pablo Graells opened the scoring in the 25th minute, taking advantage of a Cougars' turnover and sliding the ball between keeper Andres Blanco's legs to put the Mighty Oaks up 1-0. The goal was the only tally of the first half, and at the break, Mid-Continent was trailing 1-0.
In the 47th minute Chvojan struck.
The sophomore from Plzen, Czech Republic struck a brilliant shot from the top left corner of the penalty area, burying it in the top right corner of the net to knot the match up at 1-1.
"It was a beautiful finish," remarked coach David Oesch after the match. "Jan's placement and power was exceptional."
The momentum, however, was short-lived, as Chris Brind tallied a goal on a free kick in the 65th minute, giving Oakland City the 2-1 lead and swinging the momentum in favor of the Mighty Oaks.
Oakland City carried the play for the next 13 minutes, but with 12 minutes to go, the Cougars turned up the pressure. Chvojan found Keagan Bacchus with just over 10 minutes to play for Mid-Continent's second equalizer of the match, tying the score at two and taking all the wind out of Oakland City's sails. Bacchus returned the favor in the 87th minute, passing up a shot and dishing to the wide open Chvojan, who buried the game winner past Oakland City keeper Matt Ball (0-1).
"We had great determination by the team to push forward in the end, generating opportunities on goal," noted Oesch. "It was a great moment for the team to be leading with three minutes left."
Andres Blanco (1-0) got the victory in goal, while Bacchus tallied three points (1 G, 1 A) to go along with Chvojan's five points (2 G, A). Francisco Santillan recorded a helper in the match as well.
The Cougars will not have long to savor the victory, however, as they are back in action on Saturday afternoon at NAIA No. 6 Lindsey Wilson (0-0) at 2:30 p.m.
"Our first objective is recovery. Oakland City was a fantastic team and they pushed us to the limit." Oesch said. "We know the Lindsey Wilson will be a quality team this year. We must focus on recovery and prepare for the hard match ahead."