Harling and Men's Soccer Prevail in Overtime at Mount Union

Freshman Mike Harling (Rochdale, England / Holy Cross) helped to seal the Heidelberg College men’s soccer teams best Ohio Athletic Conference record since 2002 with two goals, including the game-winning score in overtime at Mount Union College in Alliance, Ohio. The Berg posted a 2-1 overtime win to help increase its OAC record on the year to 6-3 and its overall record to 10-8, while the Purple Raiders fell to 5-10-2 overall and 1-6-2 in the OAC. Heidelberg has put together its 12th winning season out of the last 14 years, all coming under the guidance of head coach Brian Haley.

The Berg will be making its 10th appearance in the OAC Tournament which begins with the quarterfinals on Monday, Oct. 29. Heidelberg has never claimed an OAC Tournament title, but have brought home two runner-up finishes since the tournament began in 1992. Heidelberg's 6-3 league record puts the team in a two-way tie with John Carroll University for runner-up honors in the regular season. The Berg earned the No. 2 seed in the upcoming tournament by virtue of a tiebreaker with the Blue Streaks. Heidelberg topped JCU in a head to head battle to earn the higher seed. With its second seed,Heidelberg earned a first round bye and will host a semifinal game on Wednesday, Oct. 31.

Mount Union’s Steve Gillespie broke a scoreless tie in the 39th minute to put the Purple Raiders on top 1-0.

In the second half, Harling received a penalty kick after being pulled down in the penalty area. Harling stepped up to take the penalty and tie the score. 

Nine minutes into overtime Carig Watkinson (Rotherham Yorkshire, England / The Weald School) took a corner kick and delivered a swinging corner that found  Cory Buhrman (Brunswick, Ohio /Brunswick) in the far post area. Buhrman then played the ball back to Harling who fired home the game-winner from 12 yards out.

For the game, Heidelberg out shot Mount Union 18-11, while Mount Union held a 3-2 advantage in corner kicks. Jared Kealy (Dublin, Ohio / Dublin Jerome) picked up the win in goal, finishing the game with four saves.

Following the win, Haley commented that it was “An important win against a Mount Union team who had nothing to lose this evening. We started slowly and played sloppy at times against a committed and focused team. Mount scored just before half time to make our task even more difficult. In second half Heidelberg was a different team and fully deserved the win with some good passing and movement. It was a great evening as we knew that the win would put as the second seed in the OAC tournament and giving us a bye into the semi final - we played well with the pressure.”

 

To see pictures from the game, follow the link