Cougars Find Winner at the Buzzer, Shock Eagles

HUNTINGDON, Pa.- The Juniata men's soccer team suffered an agonizing 2-1 defeat against visiting Chatham Saturday evening at a lively Gibbel Stadium. 

Juniata came out aggressively early, with Malvin Madzimbamuto (Oftringen, Switzerland / St Thomas More), Alec Haldeman (Hershey, Pa. / Palmyra Area HS) and Cohen Wilkins (Allison Park, Pa. / Shaler) all forcing the Cougar keeper to make a save in the opening 14 minutes. 

Five minutes later, Blake Cassel (Hummelstown, Pa. / Lower Dauphin) headed a loose ball in the box to a wide-open Sean Weiland (Frederick, MD / Governor Thomas Johnson High School), who slotted it into the left side of the goal.  

G⚽AL!!! Weiland assisted by Cassel in the first half�� #WingsUp #GoEagles #TakingFlight pic.twitter.com/4dT2tcjafW

— Juniata Athletics (@JuniataEagles) September 18, 2021

Juniata led 1-0 at the break while holding a 7-3 shot advantage. 

In the 60^th minute, the Cougars clawed back. Off a free-kick from around the 50, a Chatham defender lofted the ball into the Eagle box. The ball deflected back out to the right side of the 18, and a Chatham player looped a cross into the middle of the box. A high-arcing header went over the outreached hand of Arun Subramanian (Metuchen, N.J. / Metuchen HS) and in to knot the score. 

It was a tense final 30 minutes, with the Cougars managing the only two shots but Juniata controlling the run of play down to the final seconds, as the Cougars struck at the death. 

Chatham drew a corner in the final 20 seconds and sent their whole team into the box. The ball wound up at the top of the box, and a Chatham player managed to get a foot on it. Spencer Houck ran onto the ball before any JC defender reacted and flicked it into the Eagle net to make it 2-1.  

Juniata has a quick turnaround as they will host Grove City, Tuesday at 6:00.