After a suspenseful tied game, St. Thomas’ men’s soccer team scored the game-winning goal in overtime. Junior midfielder Brett Day scored both goals in the 2-1 Tommie victory.

“Hamline was a tough team,” Day said. “They stuck with it; they had heart, but we played as a team.”

Midfielder Nick Rapisarda was close to scoring the first goal of the game just ten minutes after the start, but Hamline’s goalkeeper made a nice save on the sophomore’s shot.

Day thought the goalie was one of the best players on the opponent’s team.

“Their goalkeeper was pretty good. He made some good saves, but you just got to get it in the net,” Day said.

In the first half, Hamline’s Michael Murphy experienced a minor injury. However, the defender was able to recover quickly after a hard fall. Murphy scored Hamline’s only goal, tying the game in the second half.

Senior forward Mike Hutton and senior midfielder Angel Riera made some great plays. Both had several scoring chances for the Tommies.

“I was a little excited because it really seemed like it [the ball] was going in,” Riera said. “But I’m just glad that we won.”

St. Thomas’ chances of winning looked slim when the second half of the game ended, and the score remained 1-1. Coach Aaron Macke, who’s in his ninth season of coaching, expressed frustration before overtime began.

“We were in a bit of a dry spell here in terms of our finishing. You can only go so long creating lots of opportunities without putting the ball in the back of the net,” Macke said. “It doesn’t do any good, and we’re still not doing that. We’re still not efficient enough around the net, too many shots and too few goals,”

But when overtime started, the Tommies stepped it up a notch. Day scored within the first few minutes, giving the team its third MIAC victory.

“Whenever you’re in a MIAC game and you win, you feel good. It puts a smile on your face,” Macke said. “Every game matters in the MIAC. It’s a very very tough conference on the men’s soccer side. So when you get a win, you celebrate it, you cherish it.”

St. Thomas is currently 3-1 in the MIAC and 6-3 overall, and will travel to St. Olaf Saturday to take on the Oles.

Geena Maharaj can be reached at maha8007@stthomas.edu.