Ohio State
Binghamton
Rivas Scores Game Winner in 2-1 Victory over Binghamton – Ohio State Buckeyes
9/11/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Sept. 11, 2011
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Sebastian Rivasscored the game-winner with less than five minutes remaining in regulation to lead the Ohio State men’s soccer team to a 2-1 come-from-behind victory over Binghamton Sunday afternoon at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium. The Buckeyes improve to 3-1-1 overall and extend their home unbeaten streak to 12 games, while the Bearcats drop to 2-2-0 on the season.
Binghamton scored early, pulling ahead 1-0 in the fifth minute, but in a tale of two halves, Ohio State battled back in the second period with two scores in the final 16 minutes for their third-consecutive victory. Chris Hegngitallied the equalizer with his second goal of the year, setting up Rivas for the win on his third goal in three games.
“Once again I am very proud of the effort by the team,” John Bluem, 15-year Ohio State head coach said. “We put ourselves in a hole again; it’s the fifth game we’ve gone behind 1-0, but they never stop playing soccer and pushing forward. We scored a nice couple of goals in the second half to win the game.”
Jake Keegan put the Bearcats on the board late in the fifth minute after driving the ball through the midfield and stopping at the top of the penalty area to launch a hard shot towards the right side. It ricocheted off the post and into the opposite corner to mark the fifth game in a row the Buckeyes have surrendered the first goal of the game.
Binghamton would have a handful of opportunities to add to its lead over the rest of the half, posting a 5-1 corner kick advantage, but a trio of key saves from MAC Hermann Trophy candidate Matt Lampsonover the ensuing 30 minutes kept the attack at bay. Play leveled off for the remaining minutes and the teams headed into intermission with the Buckeyes trailing for the third time this season.
After what can be assumed was a rousing halftime discussion, Ohio State came out of the break prepared for a comeback.
“We came out a little slow at the beginning of the game,” Hegngi said. “We’ve been having a little bit of trouble, but the effort in the second half was more than substantial. It was amazing. It was awesome to be on the field and on the sideline watching it. We worked so hard and it’s nice to get the goal at the end of the day.”
The goal came midway through the 75th minute of action and started off a throw-in by Adam Gorski and helped along by a header from Ben Killianinto the center of the goal box. Hegngi was able to get his head on it and direct into the left side of the goal for the much-anticipated equalizer.
“Adam Gorski and his long throw in is becoming a real weapon for us,” Bluem said. “It’s hard to defend against those set pieces. He can throw it in there accurately and over a long distance. They fight and the ball gets knocked down. Today it was exactly how you would draw it on paper. Ben Killian was at the near post flicks it on and Chris Hegngiis at the back post and heads it in.
“I mean that’s textbook it’s perfect.”
The Buckeyes continued to bombard Binghamton and its keeper Anthony Sokalski with shots, posting seven in a four-minute span following the goal by Hegngi. The perseverance would pay off just moments later when freshman Kenny Cunninghamplayed Rivas the ball five yards out from the penalty box for the junior midfielder to drive past the diving goakeeper midway through the 86th minute.
Ohio State ended up having a 28-11 advantage in shots after entering halftime even at eight. The teams each attempted five corners, though the Buckeyes produced a 4-0 margin in the second stanza. Lampson finished the day with five saves, while his counterpart tallied 10.
The Scarlet and Gray return to the road for the Coastal Carolina/adidas Invitational Sept. 16 and 18 in Conway, S.C. to take on Hartwick, Bluem’s alma mater, at 5 p.m. to open tourney action before closing it out vs. host Coastal Carolina at 2:30 p.m. Sept. 18. Live stats for all games will be available through OhioStateBuckeyes.com.
