Tartans Topple Chicago in OT

(PITTSBURGH, Pa.) – Sophomore Scott Gerfen (Bethesda, Md./Walt Whitman) led the Carnegie Mellon University men's soccer team to a 3-2 double overtime victory against University of Chicago on Sunday, October 9, with an opportunistic goal. The Tartans improve to 5-4-1 and 1-1-0 in the University Athletic Association (UAA) while the Maroons drop back to 5-4-2 and 0-2-0 in the UAA.

At the start of the second overtime period, Gerfen charged forward as the Tartans played the restart forward. The lead pass by sophomore Matt Sarett (Huntersville, N.C./Cannon) bounced over the Chicago outside back and went straight to Gerfen who settled the ball and took it to goal. The sophomore then burried his first goal of the season off the inside of the far post around the charging Maroon keeper 10 seconds in.

The Tartans applied the pressure throughout the first overtime, getting three shots off with two going wide and one being saved by Elek Lane.

To send the game to overtime, the Tartans needed the game-tying goal from sophomore Chris Wysocki (Newtown, Pa./Germantown Academy). Wysocki headed home the equalizer in the 87th minute after junior Ben Bryant (Toledo, Ohio/Ottawa Hills) sent a corner kick to the back post.

Chicago had taken the lead in the 76th minute when Sawyer Kisken put a shot to far post that was cleared by a Carnegie Mellon defender. The carom went straight to Stanton Coville who placed the shot in the open net for a 2-1 advantage. This goal came five minutes after the Maroons tied the score with an own goal by the Tartans. Nick Codispoti sent a free kick from the side of the 18-yard box to the near post which was knocked in by the Tartan defender.

Carnegie Mellon had taken the 1-0 lead in the 59th minute when sophomore Mike Ferraco (Pittsburgh, Pa./Penn Hills) chested in a free ball. The Tartans sent a long kick into the box that was headed to the side by a defender where Ferraco ran onto it for his third goal of the season.

There was no advantage in the first half but sophomore Cole Christensen (Denver, Colo./Rock Canyon) gave the Tartans some momentum with three shots in the final 15 minutes as two were saved by Lane.

The Tartans will next face the University of Rochester on Friday, October 14, in Rochester, N.Y. The game is set to start at 5:00 p.m.