Cherry, Sullivan Score In 2-2 Double Overtime Draw vs. Cazenovia

SENIOR DAY GAME PROGRAM

AURORA, N.Y. – Needing a victory to advance to the North Eastern Athletic Conference playoffs, the Wells College men's soccer team posted a 2-2 double overtime draw against the Wildcats of Cazenovia College Saturday afternoon at the South Athletic Field. Wells concludes their most successful season in program history with an 8-4-4 record alongside a league mark of 3-1-4. Cazenovia advances to the postseason with an overall record of 4-9 (4-3-1 NEAC).

With each team vying for the final playoff position entering this game, a victory by Wells would have given the hosts 14 points. Instead, a tie dictated that each team finished with 13 points – the secondary tiebreaker for postseason play, per the NEAC operating codes, is that the visiting team entering the game will advance to the four-team league tournament.

Despite a whopping four yellow cards and two red cards, Cazenovia was able to secure a tie after Corey McNair scored his second goal of the game in the 71st minute after collecting a Conor Cahalan feed from the right side and forcing the ball past the Wells defense.

Cazenovia also scored the first goal of the game only 43 seconds into the game – a direct kick following a Wells foul was rushed by Oleg Martynyuk, catching the Express defense off guard. McNair headed the ball home for the very first goal of the game by either side.

At the half, Wells possessed a 2-1 lead thanks to clutch goals by sophomore Max Cherry (Ridgewood, N.J.) and senior Adam Sullivan (Ithaca, N.Y.). A long feed by junior Charles Naula (Wappingers Falls, N.Y.) was reeled in by Cherry, who then broke past the Cazenovia defense. The sophomore forward was able to convert his sixth goal of the season in the 21st minute to tie the game at one.

Sullivan scored his second goal of the year at 39:08, collecting a right-to-left pass from freshman Marshall Kaplan (Trumbull, Conn.) and firing a blast on goal that eluded the grasp of Cazenovia goalkeeper Andrew Schultz for the go-ahead goal.

Wells goalkeeper C.J. Bayly (Waymart, Pa.) collected his fourth tie of the season, making four saves on six Cazenovia shots. Schultz turned aside six shots on goal in Cazenovia's first tie of the season.

The Express recorded 20 shots in the game opposed to the visitors total of 12 – Wells outshot their opponent by a 7-to-2 margin in extra frames. Wells did not receive any cautions, nor were any of their players ejected from the contest.

Today's contest marked the final collegiate contests for Bayly, Sullivan and Pat O'Callaghan (Selden, N.Y.). They were honored with a pre-game ceremony for their contributions to the program across the prior four seasons.