MEADVILLE, Pa. - The Gator men's soccer team battled defending defending North Coast Athletic Conference champ Ohio Wesleyan evenly for 104 minutes, but a breakaway goal in the closing minutes of double-overtime allowed the Battling Bishops to escape Meadville with a 1-0 win.

The match had countless momentum swings on a cold and rainy Homecoming night in front of a boisterous Frank B. Fuhrer Field crowd, until the Battling Bishop's Brian Schaefer broke free down the sideline and scored on a breakaway shot to the far post with 5:58 left in the second extra session.

Ohio Wesleyan out-shot the Gators 20-12 on the evening, as Gator keeper Jake Pugliese made nine saves on the night, including a number at close range. The Gators had a number of possessions deep in Battling Bishop territory, but thanks to a number of blocked shots and deflected passes from the OWU defense, they were only able to muster four shots on goal.

The Gators got the game off to a strong start, enjoying a long possession off the opening whistle that resulted in a corner kick and a header shot just wide by Stefano Wach just 90 seconds into play. After a pair of attempts from the visitors over the next five minutes, the Gators again came close to scoring the game's first goal, when a Liam McNamee header was blocked and deflected over the net.

Ohio Wesleyan then looked to take control, but the Gator defense withstood a number of first half threats.  Pugliese made a pair of saves between the 16th and 19th minute, while the Battling Bishops also rang a blast off of the crossbar with 20 minutes remaining in the opening stanza.  

Following another Battling Bishop blast off the post, the Gators closed out the first half with a pair of scoring threats, with a 30-yard blast off of a set piece from Jacob Hanko was saved in the 37th minute, and then a shot from McNamee was also stopped by OWU keeper Colin Beemiller a minute before the intermission.

The Battling Bishops looked primed to take the lead as the second half got underway, as a save from Pugliese led to four corner kicks in a two-minute span, but the Gator defense held strong. 

After withering the early second half storm, the Gators regained control, and possessed the ball for much of the remainder of the second stanza.  A Gator corner kick in the 56th minute led to a prime chance by Cameron Olson, but the ball sailed just wide of the post.  A Pugliese save in the 76h minute produced another Allegheny rush down the field, and with 10 minutes left, Wach scored what appeared to be the go-ahead goal, as he gathered a ball all alone in front, but was whistled offside.

Pugliese stopped the final OWU attempt with two minutes left, sending the Gators into overtime for the second straight game.

The Gators withstood another series of OWU attacks from the outset of the first overtime period, as Pugliese made a save on a shot in close following a corner kick in the 92nd minute, before the rebound was sent wide.  An Allegheny corner kick in the 96th minute produced a pair of close shots, but both were blocked in front.  Wach had one more opportunity with just over a minute left in the first overtime, but Beemiller made the save to send the game to a second extra session.

Pugliese again came up big with another save a minute into the second overtime, but the Battling Bishops ended the marathon match with 5:58 left to play, when Lonnie Barnes sent a high pass from midfield across the pitch to the sideline where it was gathered in stride by Schaefer, who got through the Gator back line and converted on the breakaway to end the game.
 
The Gators will return to action on Tuesday night, when they host NCAC foe Wooster at 7 p.m. at Frank B. Fuhrer Field.