ARLINGTON, Va. – Late-game heroics by the Marymount (Va.) University men's soccer team boosted it back into the win column on Saturday afternoon, scoring two second-half goals to overtake St. Mary's College of Maryland, 3-2, in Capital Athletic Conference play. The victory is the Saints' first in league play this season. 

Senior Logan Cropper and Marymount's defense saw the pressure early in the match, seeing six shots get fired off in the opening 13 minutes by the Seahawks, two of which needed tending to by Cropper. But it wasn't St. Mary's that put the first ball into the back of the net. 

In the 14th minute, the first shot was taken by the Saints, and it was a rip on target. Freshman Mynor Lopez found some room on the right side of the field, pushing the ball to just outside the 18-yard box. Firing off a low liner toward Seahawk goalkeeper Zack Haussler, the speed was just too much to pull in, deflecting off his gloves and into the left side of the net for the 1-0 lead. 

By the 28th minute, St. Mary's point leader Nick Tait evened out the score. A penalty kick awarded to the Seahawks was taken by Tait, shooting it left, but an impressive quick reaction by Cropper was enough to push it away. Unfortunately, the deflected save went back to the feet of Tait for another attempt, which was finished for the 1-1 tie. 

Before the first 45 minutes winded down, Tait tacked on another one to give St. Mary's a one-goal advantage at the break. But the action was just getting started, seeing the second half work in the Saints' favor. 

Battling through the first 15 minutes looking for the equalizer, Marymount finally made the connection it was working hard for by the 63rd minute. A falling touch to the right by junior Ahmed El-manialawy met the feet of freshman Chris Cardenas. Wasting no time, Cardenas took two touches and sent a perfect ball through the backline of the Seahawks to a slicing Andre Ferguson. Quickly pushing the ball to the top of the 18, Ferguson pulled the keeper out sending in a low shot to the right to draw the score even once again. 

With timing ticking down and both teams fighting for the game-winning finish, the odds played in favor of the Saints with less than 14 minutes remaining in the match. A free kick on the right side of the 18 gave Marymount the opportunity to run a set piece. Ferguson, taking the kick, crossed over a perfect back-post ball, which connected with the head of leaping freshman Rodney Ngoh. Redirecting the cross, the ball was placed into the left side of the net, past the diving hands of Haussler, for the game winner. Ngoh now leads the squad in goals for the season with three, all of which have been game-winning finishes. 

The game wasn't over yet, as the Seahawks battled to send the match into overtime. Cropper, who came up big all game long finishing with a career-high 12 saves, made the most important one with just one second left on the clock. A last-ditch effort by the Seahawks put the ball into the feet of Juwan Kearson with room on the right side for a one-on-one opportunity with Cropper. The senior keeper charged out on the Seahawk, sliding sideways on the shot and deflecting it with his leg to run the clock out. 

Cropper's 12 saves move his save percentage for the season to .770, while he improves his goals-against average to 1.69.

The men will look to carry this momentum into another home CAC matchup on Wednesday, October 14, as they welcome Salisbury University to Long Bridge Park. First touch is set for 4 p.m.