Crawshaw’s Goal in Closing Minute Lifts Tartans Past #7 Stevens

Crawshaw’s Goal in Closing Minute Lifts Tartans Past #7 Stevens

(PITTSBURGH, Pa.) – Senior John Crawshaw (Carnegie, Pa./Carlynton) connected off a pass from junior Chris Wysocki (Newtown, Pa./Germantown Academy) with 40 seconds remaining in regulation, as the Carnegie Mellon University men's soccer team beat seventh-ranked Stevens Institute of Technology on Sunday in thrilling fashion, 1-0. The Tartans improved to 2-0 while Stevens dropped to 1-1 following the Carnegie Mellon / DoubleTree Invitational.

Carnegie Mellon had its first true opportunity in the 20th minute, as junior Scott Gerfen (Bethesda, Md./Walt Whitman) blasted a shot that was stopped by Stevens' goalie Paul Killian. Thirty seconds later, the Tartans pressed forward again, as junior Mike Ferraco (Penn Hills, Pa.) sprinted down the left side of the field and missed a shot to the right of the post. The flurry of activity in front of the Stevens goal continued in the 22nd minute, as Wysocki pushed through the Stevens defense but missed his shot wide right.

The Tartans had another chance with two minutes remaining in the opening half, as junior Kevin Pierce (Dallas, Pa./Dallas Senior) blasted a shot on goal. Killian made his fourth save of the half to send the teams into the break 0-0. Carnegie Mellon controlled play in the first half, taking six shots to Stevens' four. Stevens forward Zach Adler put all four of the Ducks' first-half shots on goal, but Carnegie Mellon junior goalie Christopher Madden (Reisterstown, Md./Calvert Hall) stopped each of them.

In the second half, a back-and-forth tussle ensued, as both teams played much of the game in the middle third. The Tartans had a chance in the 55th minute, as senior Ben Bryant (Toledo, Ohio/ottawa Hills) controlled the ball to fellow junior Matt Sarett (Huntersville, N.C./Cannon), whose shot was deflected left of the goal. The Tartans earned the corner kick, but could not capitalize on the opportunity. Just a while later, Bryant put a shot on goal that was topped by Killian. Two minutes after Carnegie Mellon's offensive activity, the Ducks created an opportunity of their own, as Stephen Dunbar controlled the ball on the left side and shot on goal.

The Tartans nearly broke the scoreless tie with 29 minutes remaining in the second half, as junior defender Cole Christensen (Castle Rock, Colo./Rock Canyon) collected the ball and controlled a cross to junior Max Tassano (Bala Cynwyd, Pa./Lower Merion), who directed the ball with his heal toward the Stevens goal. Killian made an acrobatic save to keep the game scoreless. Carnegie Mellon threatened five minutes later as Gerfen found Sarrett on a cross, but the shot was once again saved by the Stevens goalie. The Ducks nearly scored in the 70th minute, as Victor Daza controlled it to Dunbar, who missed the header to the left of the goal.

Stevens had its best opportunity of the contest in the 84th minute, as Adler found Daza in front of the Tartans' goal. Madden moved to the right but was able to redirect to the left to stop Daza's shot and preserve the tie. Madden finished with six saves.

Sunday's game was originally scheduled for Saturday night but was postponed due to adverse weather conditions. Carnegie Mellon will continue its season on Friday, September 7 against Baldwin-Wallace.