PITTSBURGH, Pa. (October 16) – The Waynesburg University men's soccer team tied Chatham in a wild Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) matchup in Pittsburgh on Wednesday evening.
The game featured three ties and three lead changes as the back-and-forth affair saw all five goals in the first 67 minutes and scoreless 20-plus minute stretch to end the match.
Waynesburg moves to 7-4-2 on the season and 3-2-2 in PAC play. The Jackets trail Chatham by a single point in the league standings with three games left in league play.
Chatham struck first in the game's eighth minute as the Cougars sent in a rebound after a successful save by
Michael Francus (Bethel Park, Pa. / Bethel Park).
Waynesburg answered in the 21st minute as
Beau Hawkins (Great Mills, Md. / Great Mills) sent a looping cross from the left sideline into the 18-yard box.
Zachary Johnson's (Raceland, Ky. / Saint Joseph Central Catholic) leaping header arced over the charging Chatham goalie and landed in the back of the net.
Michael Kanu (Columbus, Ohio / Tree of Life Christian) gave the Jackets a 2-1 edge going into halftime. Kanu took the ball off a Chatham defender, worked to his left foot and hooked a shot inside the right post from 15 yards out in the 43rd minute.
Chatham responded with a pair of goals in the 55th and 61st minutes to retake a 3-2 lead. The Cougars chipped a ball past the Waynesburg back line and had a quality finish to knot the game at two and took a second half lead on a successful cross from the right end line to the left post and a tap-in goal.
Liam Mowbray (Cumberland, Md. / Allegany) notched the equalizer for Waynesburg off the Jacket bench in the 67th minute. Waynesburg won the ball back from a Chatham clear, forwarded a pass to Kanu, who sent a diagonal pass ahead to Mowbrey and he notched his second goal of the season with a left-footed shot.
Neither team scored over the final 23 minutes of play. The Jackets staved off a pair of corner kicks in the 68th minute and Francus made a pair of saves in 77th and 83rd minutes.
Connor Jacobs (Waynesboro, Pa. / Waynesboro) stepped into a well-struck shot in the 84th minute that was saved and
Sarpong Kwabiah (Odenton, Md. / Meade) had an end line run stuffed in the 89th as the game ended with a 3-3 score.
Waynesburg outshot Chatham 18-15 but the Cougars had a 10-7 edge in shots on goal and a 7-2 advantage in corner kicks.
Kwabiah had five shots and Jacobs added four. Kanu had a goal and an assist for the second time this season after doing so at Thiel on Oct. 9. Francus finished with seven saves in the tie.
The Jackets host Franciscan in their Homecoming game on Saturday at 8 p.m.
