SAN RAFAEL, Calif. – Junior defender
Louie Galdamez headed in a ball with five seconds left in the first overtime to give Dominican men's soccer a 2-1 victory Wednesday afternoon over Fresno Pacific at Kennelly Field.
Senior midfielder
Brian Sanchez finished with two assists for the Penguins (6-1-2, 1-1-1 PacWest) playing a part in both of the goals, while sophomore midfielder
Aboubacar Cisse recorded the second goal of the season.
After nearly 100 minutes played in a light but steady rain, Sanchez stepped to the left corner of the field as the 10-second countdown began. He put the ball right into the center of the box where Galdamez outleaped the Sunbirds' (4-6-0, 2-3-0 PacWest) for the ball and headed the ball just inside the back post for the golden goal with five seconds remaining in the period. It was the third goal of the season for Galdamez.
Dominican had great control in the first half as they were able to maintain possession and created several goal-scoring opportunities in the early part of the game. In the 32nd minute, Sanchez played a ball to senior midfielder
Roberto Garcia in a wide open space in the attacking midfield and Garcia quickly played the ball ahead to Cisse in the right side of the box. Cisse chipped the ball over the keeper and inside the back post for the 1-0 Penguin lead.
Fresno Pacific then seemingly controlled the pace of play in the second half, constantly challenging the Dominican backline, finishing with 11 shots with five on frame in the period. Senior goalkeeper
Ruben Raygoza made several impressive saves as he finished with seven in the game, but the Sunbirds found the equalizer in the 76th minute. Marley Edwards worked his way into the box and sent a short pass to Omri Schwartz who played his first touch to Christian Velarde for a shot that went over Raygoza's head and dipped just inside the upper-left 90 to tie the game.
Raygoza made sure no more ball crossed his goal line as the game went into extras setting up the dramatic finish.
Dominican will return to the pitch Tuesday against Hawai'i Pacific at 3:30 p.m. PDT at Kennelly Field.