NORTHFIELD, Minn. – Tim Wills (Sr./Portland, Ore./Central Catholic) scored twice, including the game winner late in the first overtime as the Carleton College men’ soccer team fended off a strong challenge from Saint Mary’s University for a 2-1 victory. The triumph keeps the Knights (8-3-2, 5-0-1 MIAC) in a tie atop the conference standings.
“We ran into a very determined, focused and well coached Saint Mary's team today,” said Carleton head coach Bob Carlson. “They have some talented young players and gave us everything we could handle. Tim bailed us out with two difficult goals.”
Carleton controlled the pace of play during the early portion of the match. Ryan Cammarota (Sr./Neenah, Wis./Neenah) nearly put the hosts in front with his 15-yard shot in the 24th minute. That blast sailed beyond the out-stretched arms of Cardinal keeper Chris Williams but ricocheted off the left post.
Wills came close to breaking the scoreless deadlock in the 40th minute as his header was cleared off the line by a SMU defender.
Carleton finally broke through in the 54th minute. Miles Silbert (Sr./St. Louis Park, Minn./St. Louis Park) gathered the ball in the right corner, eluded his defender and brought the ball in along the goal line. As the Cardinal defense shifted to cover Silbert, he slipped the ball out in front to a wide-open Wills standing at top of the six-yard box. The senior co-captain calmly deposited the ball into the net for his sixth goal of the season.
As the match progressed, Saint Mary’s became more aggressive and that style of play paid off in the 80th minute when Jacob Bina tallied the equalizer, his third goal of the year.
The Cardinals owned a 7-6 edge in shot attempts during the second half, but the momentum shifted back to Carleton in overtime. The Knights owned a 3-0 advantage in shots and took both corner kicks during the bonus time.
With time winding down in the overtime period, Cammarota collected a throw-in deep in the Cardinal defensive zone and dribbled toward the middle. He slotted the ball to Wills on the right wing, and the Knights’ all-time leader in goals scored smashed a close range shot off Williams’ hands and into the back of the goal.
The Knights improve to 6-0-1 over the last three weeks and are now 40-5-4 (.857) overall in MIAC play since Oct. 14, 2006.
Carleton hosts Hamline University on Saturday, Oct. 15. Knights Online will carry a live webcast of the 1 p.m. match.
