Spring Break
Late heroics lift Roos over Hawks in OT
David Cordill
Issue date: 10/20/08 Section: Sports
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Mitchell stung Rockhurst University for two goals, including an overtime gamewinner in the 101st minute, for a 3-2 victory against the Hawks Wednesday night at Bourke Field.
The golden goal came as a result of sophomore midfielder John Bayron Sosa's free kick from 25 yards out near the left corner of the penalty area. Sosa's boot hit the defending wall and bounced in front of Mitchell, who left-footed the ball into a Rockhurst defender. The ball caromed back to him on the rebound. He immediately swiped at it with his other foot and found the back of the net.
"(Sophomore defender Chris) Markey flicked it out and it landed right in front of me," Mitchell said. "I hit it with my left and it fell back to my right and I just put it in."
With only one career tally to his credit since his freshman year in 2004, Mitchell has caught fire recently, ripping the opposing nets for four goals since getting the start at forward five weeks ago. Currently, he ranks third on the team in scoring.
UMKC (6-4-2; 2-1 Summit League - 7-4-2 with Saturday's game) had to come from a goal down to get the game into extra periods. Although the Roos had the upper hand for most of the match, the Hawks made the most of their opportunities.
The Kangaroos scored first off Mitchell's low angling drive past Rockhurst netminder Chad Becker in the 24th minute. Off of a cross, senior forward Brian Harris touched a pass over to Mitchell, who drilled a shot from six yards out.
Rockhurst (11-1-1) evened the score at 1-1 on Walter Moskop's free kick at the 40:04 mark. Moskop's effort, cleared the wall and made it over leaping UMKC senior goalkeeper Ken Cooper's outstretched fingertips for the equalizer.
The Hawks looked to pull away from the Kangaroos, striking again in the 54th minute. Kyle Samuelson's fast-break possession down the middle of the field gave him a one-on-one opportunity against Cooper. Samuelson put a move on Cooper as he neared the box, then uncorked a well placed ball into the top left corner of the net.
Down 2-1, the situation became increasingly desperate for the Kangaroos as time was winding down. Freshman midfielder Sean Butler and Harris both had decent chances in the 49th and 69th minute respectively, but their shots were smartly handled by a vigilant Becker.
Then, in the 84th minute, UMKC tied the match on an unlikely goal. After being awarded a free kick, Sosa chipped a ball from about five yards outside of the top corner of the penalty area.
The ball passed over a jostling tangle of players trying to make a play on it before bouncing unmolested into the Rockhurst net.
"I tried to aim the ball and the keeper wasn't expecting it," Sosa said. "Nobody touched it."
With the score deadlocked at 2-2 after 90 minutes, the match went into two overtime sessions. Junior midfielder Brian Perez tried to end it in a hurry for the Kangaroos, smacking a free kick into the Rockhurst defense 10 seconds into the first overtime. Perez tried again in the final seconds of the first extra period with a sliding attempt at a ball near the box, but his shot was off the mark and the match progressed into double overtime.
The match would end shortly afterwards in a shower of backslaps and hugs when Mitchell struck his winning tally 10 seconds into the second overtime.
Rockhurst played the game without two of their top scorers, a fact UMKC Head Coach Benben pointed out after the game. But he said he was satisfied with his team's resilient performance.
"I'm pleased we won," he said. "Rockhurst has a good team but our guys really hung in there. We kinda gutted through it, we really had to keep trying. We play for 90 minutes. They're undefeated and they're one of the top Division II teams in the country [#9 according to the National Soccer Coaches Association of America poll]. So it was a good win."
The sudden victory was UMKC's first overtime win since 2004. Most recently, they lost 1-0 to Western Illinois in the 106th minute.
Sosa said it was good to finally come out on top for a change.
"We just came from a game we lost in OT," he said. "It feels awful when you put out all that effort and lose. Everybody just kept working hard out there."
Mitchell said UMKC's effort wasn't pretty but he was content with the result.
"We should have played better," he said. "Sometimes you just have to grind things out. If you're a good team, you just got to find ways to win."
dcordill@unews.com
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