Mountaineers perform magic, keep playoff hopes alive

Coming into the final week of the season, Eastern was in a three-team race for the final two spots in the Region 2 Conference Tournament. Heading into their match up with Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College, the Mountaineers knew they had little margin for error. To make matters worse, due to inclement weather in the region and a rash of cancellations and postponements, Eastern hadn't played a match in nearly three weeks and had to move the home game to Atoka High School.

Despite the unusual circumstances, it promised to be a special night. The Eastern men took the field for warm-ups sporting "Sara's Team" shirts to promote awareness for Type 1 Diabetes and raise money for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF).

Unfortunately, NEO had plans of their own and scored a goal mid way through the first half. Eastern withstood a surging NEO team early and battled adversity as they have all year. After going down 0-1, Eastern adjusted at halftime and never looked back. Coming out of the break, Eastern looked like the dominant team. It was just a matter of time before sophomore Co-Captain Edgar Torres found the back of the net, dribbling across the 18 and firing a laser into the lower left hand corner of the NEO net after receiving the ball from freshmen midfielder Jose Maria Ruarte.

The score remained deadlocked for the next 55 minutes despite Eastern's best efforts. The Mountaineers mounted attack after attack but just couldn't get the ball to go in the back of the net. With seven minutes remaining in the 2nd overtime, it looked like Eastern would go home victorious. Ruarte was chopped down in the box and freshmen midfielder Maxime Guede appeared to bury the ensuing penalty kick. Eastern celebrated as the two coaches were preparing to shake hands, but the officials decided that it was not a goal. This strengthened Eastern's resolve, setting up a thrilling finish on the soccer field. With 27 seconds remaining before Eastern would have to settle for a tie and further dampen their post-season hopes, Eastern scored to send all Mountaineers home happy. Once again Torres broke through the NEO back line and served a ball to freshmen midfielder Brandon Molina who headed home the game winner.

NOTES
- The Mountaineers picked up their first conference win of the season.
- Edgar Torres scored his 2nd career goal.
- Marc-Antoine Huzen went the distance, playing all 110 minutes in goal and picking up 8 saves in the process.
- Eastern outshot NEO 21-9 with a 9-8 advantage in shots on target.
- Jose Maria Ruarte assisted on Edgar Torres goal and Torres provided the assist on the Molina game winner.

Coach Jon Evan said: "I couldn't be prouder of the young men tonight. They have done everything we have asked of them and have fought through every imaginable circumstance to prevail here tonight. We've overcome fitness issues, injuries, officiating, playing conditions, travel schedules, and tough opponents. They knew what was at stake coming into the night and played with a great deal of pride given the worthy cause we were supporting. It was really special to watch them compete tonight. I could see it from the time they took the field they weren't going to be denied. All you can ask for as a coach is that your team plays hard and continues to progress. We are doing that now and for that I am grateful," Coach Evan said. "NEO is a tough team and well coached. Coach Parrigon is a friend and runs a great program. They made us fight for everything we earned here tonight. We're going to enjoy the win heading into Fall Break weekend, but our work is not done. It's only just beginning, we are going to focus on getting better at training tomorrow and be ready when we take the field at Tonkawa on Monday."

NOTES
Eastern hits the road to face Northern Oklahoma College-Tonkawa on Monday, Oct. 22 in Tonkawa, OK. Kickoff is scheduled for 3 p.m.