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Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
West Virginia
Players Mentioned
Sanner Scores Golden Goal as Princeton Defeats West Virginia
October 21, 2015 | Men's Soccer
BOX SCORE
PRINCETON, N.J. (10/20/15) - Senior Thomas Sanner scored the game-winning goal in the 108th minute as Princeton defeated West Virginia in double overtime, 3-2.
Junior Greg Seifert sent a cross from the right flank into the attacking third and freshman Jeremy Colvin header it towards the goal. A defender tried to flick it away but it took a bad bounce and Sanner pounced on it for the walk-off goal with 2:00 on the clock.
Sanner, who leads the Ivy League in goals and points with nine and 22, scored the twice in the game and took 11 total shots in the game - ironically the same number as West Virginia.
"I was really proud of our boys," senior co-captain Brendan McSherry said postgame. "We worked hard the whole time and didn't give up, even when we went down a goal without much time left. Nobody lost faith and we kept going at it. It's good to get a good close win going into the week and get our confidence up. We're exciting for Harvard and this provides some good momentum."
It was a wild game that saw double overtime, two penalty kicks, two goalie changes and a single player taking 11 shots.
A penalty kick in the 10th minute provided the first goal of the game as Ryan Cain converted to make it 1-0 West Virginia. Princeton continued to pressure the defense and put goalkeeper Alec Boerner to the test. His best save of the first half came in the 16th minute as Colvin set up Sanner perfectly but Boerner made one of his career-high 11 saves of the game.
Colvin scored his first career goal to knot the game at 1-1 in the 20th minute. McSherry took a shot towards goal where it hit Sanner before he settled it with his feet and centered to Colvin for the tally.
Boerner was briefly taken out of the game as he fell back into the right side of the net trying to push a Nico Hurtado shot over the cross bar. Diaz played 10:50 and did not see a shot before Boerner returned between the posts.
Princeton continued to the offensive attack in the second, with a 12-4 shot advantage. Boerner stayed hot and had two saves on Sanner and freshman Danny Hampton on the same possession. Patrick Barba had a header that was blocked at the right post and Colvin had a header goes just wide of the left post to highlight the some of the opportunites in the second 45.
The Mountaineers received a second penalty kick in the 83rd minute, but the Tigers got renewed hope when Jamie Merriam hit the cross bar and senior Ben Hummel collected the ball before it could bounce in. Not to be overshadowed, Hummel had seven saves to his own right.
Three minutes later, however, West Virginia would get the ball in the back of the net, scoring off a corner kick. Ivo Cabral took the corner on the right side and Haydon Bennett deflected it to Mike Desiderio who took a straight on shot for the goal.
Nineteen seconds later though, Sanner tied it. Sanner and a Mountaineer both went up for a ball in the 18-yard box and it bounced to back to the right side for Vikram Pothuri. Pothuri got possession and put it back into play for Sanner with a centering pass.
Princeton finished the game outshooting West Virginia 26-11, and took three more corners, 9-6.
Princeton, now 6-4-2 on the season, travel to Harvard this Saturday, Oct. 24. Game time is 4:30 p.m.