Arboleda’s Golden Goal Lifts Men’s Soccer to 3-2 OT Victory at Mitchell in NECC Debut

NEW LONDON, Conn.- Junior Sebastian Arboleda (Barranquilla, Colombia) found the back of the net in the 93rd minute to propel the Eastern Nazarene College men's soccer team to a thrilling 3-2 win at Mitchell Saturday.

The Lions eviscerated a 22-match skid to jump to 1-6-0 on the fall and 1-0-0 in the New England Collegiate Conference. The Mariners fall to 2-4-0 overall and 1-1-0 in league play.

The visitors raced out to an early 1-0 advantage as Sunil Lepcha (Charlotte, N.C.) buried his first marker of the season in the seventh minute.

The home side responded in the 11th minute to pull even at 1-1 as William Ferguson notched his second goal of the year.

Eastern Nazarene posted nine shots in the first half while Mitchell managed six attempts.

The Mariners grabbed a one-goal edge in the 55th minute, 2-1. Dylan Thambirasa collected his first tally of the fall with a one-touch finish after Jhan Carlos Bermeo lofted a pass over the defense.

The Lions answered less than a minute later to knot the contest at 2-2. Kirby Georgeon (Brockton, Mass.) picked up his first goal of the year as he pounced on a loose ball in the box and tucked a shot into the right side of the cage.

Eastern Nazarene fired 22 shots in regulation while limiting Mitchell to 12 shot attempts.

The guests scored the game-winner 2:38 into the first overtime session as Arboleda finished off a feed from Prem Subedi (Scranton, Pa.) to lock up the Lions' first conference win of the year.

Victor Mendoza (Cathedral City, Calif.) started between the pipes and registered a pair of saves before Florian Resch (St. Stefan, Austria) came on in relief and worked the final 11:35 of the match.

Looking ahead, Eastern Nazarene treks to Northern Vermont-Johnson for a non-conference clash September 25.